The Return of the Hendersons: Operation Nowhere
by Jonathan R
Summary: Get ready. Thirty chapters of this category's most amazing sequel is right here. The Hendersons come back to Nowhere...and chaos erupts! If you haven't read this story yet, I highly recommend it. C'mon, read it! (Please?)
1. Prologue: Dark Dealings in Washington

(A.N.: Hey, everyone! I always like to start the new year off with a bang, and what better way to do that than with the return of the Hendersons! Prepare yourselves for more action and suspense than ever before. I have a feeling Courage is going to get himself into some new and bizarre situations, so don't expect me to say I told you so.)

(More exciting news: Congratulations to Darkest Moon, Gareth Paul Barsby, and Chris Gammon! You three have been submitted into my story! You'll be playing the parts of mysterious secret agents from Washington sent out to Nowhere to investigate the strange events going on over there. Also, a fourth secret agent, modeled after myself, will be tagging along and...well, I'll be making it up as I go along, so expect a few surprises. Thank you.)   
  


Prologue: Dark Dealings in Washington  
  


Deep inside the Capitol building there is a room. A room almost no one knows about. Inside the room there is a desk. Sitting at the desk is a man. His identity is covered in shadows. The only ID on this man is his FBI badge on his uniform. On the desk is an intercom. The man pushes the button on the intercom.

"Montgomery," says the man in a gruff voice. "Send in Agent Gammon."

"Yessir," says Montgomery. After a brief pause, the door opens. In walks Agent Gammon, a tall man with greased hair. He wears a pair of sunglasses. All agents do, for some reason.

"You wanted to see me, sir?" asks Gammon.

"Agent Chris Gammon," says the mysterious figure. "My department has received some...unusual disturbances occurring recently in the town of Nowhere, Kansas. I'm sending you and three other agents out there to investigate. I want a detailed report about any past and present happenings out there and I'm ordering you to catalog them. An officer will provide you with the appropriate equipment."

"Yes, sir," answers Gammon. He turns around to leave, but the shadowy man stops him.

"Agent Gammon, a fellow agent has informed me that you are writing 'stories' on your office computer. They've been taking up valuable hard drive space, so I ordered the stories downloaded to a disk and deleted from the computer." The man pulls out a disk from the desk and tosses it to Agent Gammon. "Now, try and keep your mind on your work instead of in these fantasies of yours, and stop wasting time on them."

Gammon frowns. These "fantasies" were the only opportunities to exercise his creative mind. The man continues. "You leave tomorrow at six in the morning. Dismissed."

Agent Gammon mumbles out a "Thank you" before leaving the room.  
  


The mysterious man pushes the intercom button again. "Montgomery, send in Agent Barsby."

After a moment, the door opens, and Barsby steps into the room. He looks similar in appearance to the previous agent, except his hair is styled differently, and he has an accent. "Yes?" he asks.

The man pulls out a portfolio from his desk. "Agent Gareth Paul Barsby. You used to work in forensics, correct?" 

"Yes, sir. In Britain. Before I was reassigned."

The man puts the portfolio away. "I have an assignment for you. You and three other agents are to be dispatched to Nowhere, Kansas to investigate some paranormal activity. Given your expertise in gathering information, I want you to collect names, places, fingerprints, and any other useful info and give them to Agent Gammon to catalog."

Agent Barsby is rather baffled by this sudden request, but he accepts it. "I've always wanted to go to Kansas! I've heard the..."

"This isn't a sightseeing trip, Barsby. This is a top secret government investigation! Can I trust you to take this assignment seriously?"

"Oh, yes, sir," mumbles Barsby, as he calms down.

"Very well. Your gear will be issued to you in your quarters. You leave tomorrow at 6 A.M. Dismissed."

Agent Barsby turns and leaves the room.  
  


The man immediately takes another portfolio out from his desk. He observes the name, but is unsure of how to say it to Montgomery. Finally, he says to the intercom, "Monty, send in Agent D.M."

The door soon opens and a young female agent walks up to the desk. Her uniform appears normal. Unknown to anyone, however, she has several Sailor Moon items in her pockets. (Key chain, pencil, etc.)

The man looks at the portfolio again. "Greetings, Agent..."

"Um, I go by my 'code name' only," interrupts the young girl.

"I see, uh, Agent Darkest Moon. May I call you D.M. for short?"

"If you must," answers D.M.

"How long have you worked in this department?"

"Two months, sir. I have yet to receive my first major assignment."

"Well! Your in luck, D.M. I happen to be assigning you one right now."

"Now?" asks D.M. excitedly.

"Yes," answers the man. "You see, you and some fellow agents are going to Nowhere, Kansas on a little 'investigation'. I understand you're very good with a camera, so I want you to take photos of the area and any 'peculiarities' that may arise."

Agent Darkest Moon obviously wants specifics to these broad instructions, but she has been taught never to ask that to a higher-ranking agent (especially to this one), so she eagerly agrees to the assignment. 

"Very well. You leave tomorrow at six. Your equipment is in your quarters. Dismissed."

D.M. leaves the room very excited, yet also puzzled. This is her first big assignment, but she wonders why she didn't receive any details.  
  


When the shadowed man is alone again, he leans into the intercom and says in a chilling voice, "Get me...Agent Jonathan R."

Soon, the door opens and a tall, young agent steps into the room. His brown hair is greased and he wears shades, just like the other agents. However, he looks as though he has a strange, unnatural personality inside him. What's ironic is that Agent R is really just a shy, average agent, but looks really menacing and evil. 

"You wished to see me?" he asks in a deep voice.

The man behind the desk motions to him and he whispers something in the agent's ear. All we hear him say is, "Make sure nothing goes wrong," at the very end.

"Very well," responds Agent R. He turns around to leave. When he gets to the door, the strange man calls out his name. Agent R turns around to face the man. 

"I want you back alive, OK, Jonathan?"

"Hey, you know me. I always come back some way or another. See you later, Dad," he says and exits the room.

"Bye, son," says the man behind the desk. He sits back in his chair. "I love the family business," he says to himself.  
  


(Hope you all like it so far. I'll get to the Henderson's return to Nowhere very soon!)

  
  
  
  



	2. Here Come the Hendersons

Chapter 1: Here Come the Hendersons

  
  


Two and a half weeks.

That's how much time had passed since the Hendersons left Nowhere. They had arrived in San Francisco as planned and stayed there for quite some time. They went to see all the sights and tourist attractions the wonderful city had to offer. They even traveled to an enormous cemetery where several famous people were buried. Of course, none of the Hendersons wanted to set foot into the cemetery, given their previous experience with dead people, but, after much coaxing and begging from Vivian and Mike, they entered. The Hendersons were also extremely relieved to leave the cemetery, and Vivian and Mike couldn't understand why.

Anyway, they all had a glorious time in San Francisco, but, the time had finally come for the Hendersons to leave California and head home. After two and a half weeks, the Hendersons packed up their luggage, including gifts given to them from Mike and Vivian, and got into the car.

A lot of "We had a good time"s and "Hope to see you soon"s were said between Carl's siblings and the Hendersons. Finally, the station wagon drove down the road. No sooner did the Hendersons arrive on the interstate, than Kevin and Katie began asking their parents if they could go back to the farmhouse on the outskirts of Nowhere. Carl and Diane were very skeptical at first. They were afraid something similar to what happened last time would occur again. But Kevin and Katie kept begging until Katie began to cry. Finally, Kevin said, "Mom, Dad, which would you prefer? Spending cash at some motel or staying unlimited nights at a quaint, little farmhouse for free?"

Carl and Diane couldn't argue with that logic. But Carl said, "If things get too scary, we go straight home, understood?"

Kevin and Katie agreed. Kevin actually wished something freaky would happen again. Ever since the Event, as he called it, Kevin felt as if he could stand up to anything. Or maybe his hormones had finally kicked in. Whichever reason it was, Kevin was eager to return to Nowhere.

"Hey!" said Kevin. "Why don't we call and tell them we're coming?" 

"Only if you have their number, son," said Diane.

Kevin reached in his pocket and pulled out his new cell phone that Uncle Mike gave him. At the same time, Kevin reached for his laptop and turned it on. He opened a file that revealed Courage's phone number. Kevin then began dialing the number. As he did, he looked back into the trunk. He saw Sandy staring at him with a great big smile on her face.

  
  


In the little house on the outskirts of Nowhere, the telephone rang. Courage, who was chewing a sock on the floor nearby, jerked his head up. He had received no word from the Hendersons since Kevin sent an e-mail telling him they had arrived in San Fran...and that was over two weeks ago! Courage watched Eustace get up to answer the phone. Courage crossed his fingers and hoped with all his might that it was the Hendersons.

"Hello," said Eustace. He listened to the voice on the other end. "Nrrgh," griped Eustace then he put the phone down and sat in front of the TV. "It's for you, Muriel!" he called out.

Muriel came out of the kitchen and headed towards the phone. Courage began shaking with excitement!

Muriel picked up the phone. "Hello?" she asked. Then her face displayed a joyous expression. "Well, hello there, Kevin!"

"YAY!" exclaimed Courage. It was the Hendersons!

"What's that?" Muriel continued. "You're heading back home now?" There was a pause. "Well, of course you can stay here again! We were sort of hoping you would."

Courage jumped up into the air, laughing with happiness. At last! He was finally going to be reunited with the Hendersons and his beloved Sandy!

"Here we go again," mumbled Eustace. (He'd never admit it, but he was also glad the Hendersons were returning.)

"Well, we'll be waiting. OK, bye," Muriel said, and hung up the phone. "Oh my! We'd better clean up this place before they get here tomorrow!"

Eustace lazily got to his feet as Courage zoomed up to Muriel ready to do whatever she told him to do.

  
  


Kevin hung up the phone. He was going to say something when he stopped. As Carl and Diane started talking about how exciting it would be returning to Nowhere, Kevin's attention was focused on his little sister, Katie. All her attention was directed towards Mr. Furry, the teddy bear sitting in her lap. What Kevin thought was strange was the look on Katie's face. It looked rather inquisitive and VERY serious. Sandy, who looked over the back seat from behind, noticed it too. 

"Katie. Are you all right?" asked Kevin.

Katie quickly jerked her head towards Kevin. "Yeah. I'm fine," she mumbled. Then she turned around and looked out her window, ending the conversation.

Kevin and Sandy both looked at each other uneasily.

  
  


******

  
  


Somewhere in Nashville, Tennessee, a giant RV was zooming westward down the interstate. Inside were four people wearing bright Hawaiian shirts and shorts. They appeared to look like average tourists. Unlike tourists, however, these people were on a mission of national security traveling in a government-funded vehicle.

Agent Barsby was at the wheel. Next to him sat Agent Gammon. Agent Darkest Moon was asleep, while Agent R was fixing himself a snack.

The radio suddenly crackled to life. "Come in agents. Announce location."

Gammon grabbed the receiver. "We're just leaving Nashville. We should be arriving in Nowhere by noon tomorrow."

"Excellent. Don't forget now. Information and photos must remain classified. Understand?"

Gammon and Barsby agreed.

"Very well. Good luck, agents." The signal stopped. (A.N. That was the shadowy figure man; their boss.)

"Hey, Gammon," said Barsby. "Did you look inside your portfolio about the history of Nowhere? It's pretty violent, ain't it?"

"Yeah. It's too bad those two founders of Nowhere never resolved that conflict between them." (Ironic, isn't it?)

Barsby nodded his head. "And what about all the rumours and urban legends?"

"Those aren't legends, my friend," said Jonathan R behind them. "UFOs, Bigfoot, vortexes. They've all been sighted in this town. In fact, an unknown phenomenon occurred there almost three weeks ago. A sand vortex and 'demonic figures' or something. Anyway, looks like this assignment is right up our alley."

Agents Gammon and Barsby looked at each other, wondering how in the world he knew something like that.

Agent R continued. "I'd be more worried about that rookie over there." All eyes turned to Agent D.M., asleep on a bunk. "She's had practically no experience in this field."

"She's only supposed to be taking photos. Seems simple enough," interrupted Barsby.

"I know," said Agent R. "It's what she's going to be taking pictures of that worries me."

Barsby was just about to ask what, when Gammon suddenly yelled, "Keep your eyes on the road!!!" The vehicle was starting to drift into another lane. Barsby swerved the RV into the correct lane.

Agent R went back to the rear of the vehicle. Agents Gammon and Barsby remained up front. Both of them knew that Agent R knew more than he was admitting. 

  
  


(Hmmm...Can Courage contain his excitement about the Henderson's arrival? Will the odd band of agents stick together on this assignment? And why is Katie acting so strange? Chap. 2 is next...duh.)

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	3. Nighttime Thoughts

"Nighttime Thoughts"

  
  


(Night has fallen. Tomorrow, both the Hendersons and the secret agents will arrive in Nowhere. Before that happens, however, let's take a look inside each character's mind, shall we?)

  
  


Courage lay awake at the foot of his masters' bed. He was still very excited that the Hendersons were coming back to his house tomorrow. In the two and a half weeks since their departure, Courage had practically thought of no one else but them: Carl and Diane, the friendly parents who were so protective of their children. Little Katie, who patted him on the head several times and never went anywhere without Mr. Furry. Kevin, the teenage boy who treated him like a best friend and displayed a remarkable personality that rivaled his own. And Sandy. Dear, sweet Sandy. She had been on Courage's mind ever since she stepped out of the car that first day she arrived. From that moment on, Courage had daydreamed about being with Sandy in every conceivable (and inconceivable) way. Courage licked his lips as he remembered that unforgettable kiss Sandy gave him in the backyard. His only worry, however, was if Sandy knew just how much Courage cared about her. Courage knew that he was no longer a puppy and understood the changes going on inside him, but these feelings were unlike anything he had ever felt before! It wasn't easy keeping them under control, but as Courage rolled onto his stomach, he vowed that he would try to maintain a normal composure throughout the Henderson's stay...but not to the point of practically ignoring them. Courage smiled. He just couldn't wait until tomorrow.

Muriel lay awake on one half of the bed. She could feel Courage lying at her feet. She was thoroughly exhausted. Muriel had spent most of the day cleaning the house with Courage and Eustace. She had always believed that a clean house was a happy house, especially when visitors were arriving. Like Courage, she was also excited to see the Hendersons again. Carl and Diane were respectable adults who always enjoyed her conversations. And those darling kids! They were so well-mannered and adorable. She also knew about Sandy and Courage's relationship, but was wise enough to stay out of it. Muriel thought about what everyone would do once the Hendersons arrived and hoped Eustace would behave as well.

Eustace could usually care less about the events that happened around here. (Blah,blah,blah.) But for some reason, he didn't seem to mind having the Hendersons here again. True, he still thought those kids were bothersome, but he guessed that he now knew what to expect from them, since they had been here before. He also didn't want anything weird happening again like last time. However, those events were becoming a dim memory. Eustace grumbled to himself, wondering what the heck was going on between Courage and that other dog.

  
  


In a motel in Colorado, Carl Henderson slept in a bed next to his wife. Had been worried about what would happen once they stayed at that freaky little farmhouse again. The events from last time had been permanently etched into his mind. Still, everyone seemed to really enjoy that place for some reason. Maybe it was because Diane met someone new she could talk to. In fact, Muriel did look a bit like Diane's mother. Then again, maybe the family dog, Sandy, finally had a friend of her own. A nagging thought in the back of Carl's mind thought it was a bad idea for a male and female dog to be with each other for too long [I smell foreshadowing!], but Carl knew from Kevin that Sandy was "an understanding, responsible dog". Carl sighed as he wished that nothing too out of the ordinary would happen next time around.

Diane, who was half asleep, had mixed feelings about returning to Nowhere. It was exciting to return to the town her deceased ancestors had built. Of course, MEETING your deceased ancestors was something else altogether. It took a lot of doing by her family to get her to go back there. She finally agreed, but the experience had made her a bit more overprotective for her kids. Diane fell asleep praying that nothing would happen to the family again when they returned.

Kevin lay in the other bed next to his sister. Like Katie, Kevin was anxious to return to the outskirts of Nowhere. He'd never admit it to his parents, but he felt that a little adventure and a little danger every now and then was good for him. Kevin had always been a fearless kid, except, of course, for his fear of heights. He knew that his sister, Katie, must've felt scared by the experience. Any ten year old girl would. But when he asked her about it, she said she wasn't all that scared. Typical Katie. Kevin quickly made it his personal goal to make sure Katie was in the best of care while she was in Nowhere.

(Speaking of Katie, she's fast asleep next to Kevin. For some reason, I don't know what she's thinking right now. Hmmmm....)

Sandy lay awake at Kevin's feet. She stared up at the ceiling, thinking about Courage. This was the first relationship Sandy had ever had with another dog. She wondered if she was going into it too fast. She quickly pushed that thought out of her mind as she thought about Courage's attributes. He was handsome, nice, and brave....at least, brave most of the time. Surely, by now Courage was not quite as scared about things as he was before the Hendersons first arrived. Sandy had dreams about Courage and her brush with death on more than one occasion and it pleased her to know that Courage would do anything for her. Sandy was not going to take advantage of this discovery, of course, and decided that she would spend most of her time talking to Courage about San Francisco. Sandy rolled onto her stomach and smiled. She could barely contain her excitement.

  
  


Agent Barsby lay awake on a motel bed. His briefcase lay next to him. He felt glad and irritated by this mission. Barsby had never gone inland into the United States before. He had lived in the U.K. for most of his life and was surprised by the vastness of this country. However, the mission itself made him a little uneasy. He had read about all the odd things happening in Nowhere, and it scared him a little. England had its share of weirdness too, but this was the first time Barsby was going to experience stuff like that firsthand. Barsby decided to think about his fellow agents in order to change the subject. Agent Gammon was okay, if only he didn't keep yakking about Barsby's driving skills. Plus, it annoyed Barsby that he was assigned to just hand over information to Gammon. I mean, you never knew exactly what Gammon was thinking. Agent Darkest Moon was young, but seemed to have everything under control. Barsby wondered if she really was prepared to take this mission seriously. And Agent R. He had a really notorious look, like he was planning to double-cross you at any moment. Did he and The Boss (as I'm going to refer to him as from now on) have some deeper connection that Barsby was unaware of? Barsby made a mental note to keep a sharp eye on him. 

Agent Gammon lay on a sleeping bag in front of Barsby's bed. Barsby had one bed, D.M. got the other one, while Gammon and Agent Jonathan R slept on spare cots that were brought in from the RV. Gammon began thinking to himself: "Why didn't I get a bed? Whatever happened to sharing?" The answer to that question was obvious...nobody felt like it. Gammon was also mad at The Boss. What right did he have deleting Gammon's harmless stories from his hard drive? At least he had the decency to put it on a disk, but, seriously, he should've asked Gammon first. Gammon wondered if Boss treated all Sonic fans at the office the same way. Gammon was neutral in his feelings for D.M. If she wanted to tag along, that was fine by him. What really got to him was Agent R's attitude. Unlike everyone else, Agent R seemed to be stuck in his own little world. Every time he said something, it was about information that none of the other agents knew about. One of these days, thought Gammon, I'm gonna figure out what's up with that guy.

Agent Darkest Moon lay on her bed, grumbling to herself in her mind. She hadn't been with the Agency for very long and already she was starting to hear a rumor about herself. She denounced it almost immediately; she did NOT consider herself immature just because she adored cartoons. Why, there probably wasn't an agent anywhere who didn't secretly like a certain cartoon character. D.M. glanced at the Sailor Moon ring on her finger. She knew the other agents had doubts about her investigative abilities, but D.M. was confident she could do the job. Her photography skills were first-rate as well. D.M. thought about taking a couple of pictures of the other agents when they were asleep, but changed her mind. Who knew what that weirdo, Agent R would do if he found out.

Agent Jonathan R was miserable. He never wanted to be a government agent in the first place. He wanted to be a comic book artist. But his father, who is The Boss, remember, wanted him to follow the family lineage of providing protection for the country. So, reluctantly, Jonathan traded in his art pens for a briefcase full of classified information. It was helpful that his father was head of the department, because Jonathan had information from him that only he knew about. That was probably why the other agents didn't like him. Also, the other agents were so right-brained. Calculated, logical, point-A-to-point-B thinkers. Jonathan considered himself left-brained. Spontaneous, creative, imaginative. It was as if he had the term "black-sheep" written all over him. Finally, Jonathan simply looked as if he wasn't to be trusted for anything. Like a young Jack Nicholson. Agent R sighed to himself. Going through with this assignment with three totally different agents tagging along was not going to be easy.

  
  


(Well, at least one thing the agents and I have in common is that we're all Courage fans, right? So now you know what's going on in each character's mind at the moment. Stick around for Chap. 4.)


	4. Deja Vu and Agents Too

"Deja vu and Agents Too"

  
  


(A.N. This is the chapter where I had originally planned this story to begin...before I added all that stuff in the beginning.)

  
  


The orange sun slowly peeked over the horizon. The sunlight first made contact with the rotating blades of the windmill. The reflections on the metallic blades would've blinded a person, even with sunglasses on. The sunlight then touched the roof of the house and slowly crept down the outside wall like molasses. It approached the upstairs window and leaked inside. Ten minutes later, the beams of light fell on the pink dog lying on the foot of the bed, as if being summoned by a higher authority (which he's not.) The black spot on his back became visible as Courage slowly began to wake up. The early morning sun created a golden aura of light in the bedroom that was common this time of year. Courage yawned mightily as he tried to remember what day today was. Then, he gasped, and a 'Yay!' jumped out of his mouth...for he just remembered that today was THE day. The day the Hendersons would finally arrive again.

Courage quickly rushed over to Muriel, who was still asleep, and nudged her shoulder to wake her up.

"Wake up. Wake up!" said Courage, who couldn't contain his excitement.

Muriel opened her eyes and yawned. "G'morning, Courage. I see you're excited about today."

"Mmm-hm!" answered Courage.

Muriel leaned over and tried to wake Eustace up. Her response was a garbled, "Gimme five more minutes, Ma."

It goes without saying that it took a bit of doing to get Eustace out of bed. Eventually, the task was complete, and the three inhabitants of the farmhouse sat at the kitchen table to eat breakfast. That is, until Eustace grumbled, "What are you doing at the table, dog?" So Courage ended up eating on the floor, but he didn't care. He was too anxious....and Eustace wasn't going to ruin it.

The Hendersons had made it clear that they would arrive at Courage's house right before lunch, so, immediately after breakfast, Muriel began working on a "Welcome Back" lunch to surprise the Hendersons with. She told Eustace to go down to the store and get all the ingredients necessary for their arrival. Eustace reluctantly agreed and came back to see Muriel and Courage working away in the kitchen. Eustace decided at that moment to go back to the store.

"Whatever for?" asked Muriel.

"I need to get stuff for me, don't I?" shot back Eustace.

"Well, make sure you get back before the Hendersons arrive. And fill up the tank while you're in town, y'hear?"

Eustace grumbled in agreement as he headed toward the truck.

"Honestly, that man would loose his head if it weren't attached to his neck," said Muriel as she stirred a pot on the stove.

Courage nodded in agreement as his eyes watered up, since he was cutting an onion.

  
  


"We can't be lost again!" shouted Diane Henderson to her husband.

"Well, I know for sure we're in the right state," argued Carl. "I just need to figure out which way to go now."

The Henderson's car was stopped at a T-intersection somewhere in Kansas. Carl had once again gone on another of his "shortcuts" and had gotten the whole family lost. Both parents were standing in front of the car, while the kids and Sandy stayed in the backseat.

"Kevin?" asked Carl.

"Sorry, Dad!" shouted Kevin through the window. "But I forgot to recharge my laptop!" Kevin groaned to himself. He didn't know whom to be more mad at, Dad or himself.

"Well, try your phone again, dear," said Kevin's mother.

Kevin sighed. Last time he tried that, there wasn't any signal. Kevin reached into his pocket and grabbed his cell phone, but before he could dial the number, he stopped. Kevin stole a quick glance at Katie. Normally, she was outgoing and excited all the time. But ever since they left that cemetery in San Francisco, she had barely spoken a word, except to Mr. Furry. For some reason, Kevin was afraid to ask Katie what was wrong with her. He didn't know why, but something in the back of his mind told him to leave it alone for now.

Kevin dialed Courage's number and sighed in disappointment. Still no signal. Now what?

As she watched the Hendersons try to hopelessly figure out where they were, Sandy decided to take matters into her own paws. She got out of the car and onto the roof. She put her snout up into the wind and sniffed the air. Nothing. She tried harder. Still nothing. Kevin got out of the car and asked what she was doing. A "Ssshhh!" was his answer. Sandy paused for a moment. She imagined herself as a wolf. An ancestral beast with a sense of smell that knew no boundaries. Sandy then inhaled a giant breath of air. Finally, a faint, almost undetectable scent was picked up by Sandy's sensitive nose. Sandy didn't know how to explain it, but somehow she now knew which direction the family should take to get to Courage's house. Sandy quickly whispered into Kevin's ear the directions, and Kevin gave Sandy a hug before letting his parents know which way to go.

"Are you sure?" they asked.

"Trust me," said Kevin.

Seeing no other choice, Carl and Diane got back in the car, and the Hendersons headed in the direction that Kevin told them. Kevin smiled at Sandy (a silent Thank you), but she was too busy looking at Katie. Like Kevin, Sandy knew that something was wrong with Katie. But Sandy could detect that whatever was wrong with Katie was much more serious (and darker) than Kevin realized. Sandy felt like telling this information to Kevin. But not now.

Turned out, the Hendersons were only ten miles away from Nowhere.

  
  


Courage looked through the attic window in front of his computer. He stared down at the road that led to the horizon. Any second now, he said to himself, the Henderson's car would come racing down the road towards him. 

Downstairs, everything was set. The dinner table had a green tablecloth that matched the living room rug. The kitchen was transformed into an elaborate formal luncheon. Everything from appetizers to desserts were sprawled out on the kitchen counters. Extra places were set at the table. Eustace and Muriel sat anxiously in the living room, waiting for the re-arrival of the Hendersons. Actually, Muriel was more anxious then Eustace. Eustace was slightly annoyed since he was missing his favorite TV show.

Was that them? No, just a semi truck. Courage sighed as he watched the 18-wheeler appear on the horizon and whoosh past the farmyard.

He glanced at his computer. If it were turned on, it would no doubt be mocking Courage about how he was waiting for Sandy. Thank goodness for off-switches.

Was that them? No, just a biker gang.

Courage sighed again. This waiting around for loved ones was harder than it looked. Courage immediately wondered if he should refer to the Hendersons as "loved ones". He felt a sort of devotion towards them. They never mistreated him in any way. Especially Sandy. So, in the end, Courage decided to classify the Hendersons as loved ones, as long as he kept it to himself.

After waiting a while longer, Courage was just about to go back downstairs when some movement on the horizon caught his eye. A vehicle was coming down the road. It was a station wagon filled with luggage. The Henderson's station wagon!

Like a pink lightning bolt, Courage shot down the stairs and tugged at Muriel's dress. Courage garbled a bunch of syllables at her with a smile on his face. Muriel figured out why Courage was so excited (for once) and called out to Eustace.

"Eustace! The Hendersons are coming!"

"Blah, blah, blah," said Eustace, who arose from his seat.

"Now look alive, boys," said Muriel. "We're gonna surprise them with all the food in the kitchen, so try and enjoy yourselves, okay?"

"Oh, alright," grumbled Eustace.

Courage nodded eagerly. He was jumping up and down with excitement until Eustace told him to cut it out.

  
  


The Hendersons parked the station wagon next to Eustace's truck. The family got out of the car and stared a minute at the rickety farmhouse on the outskirts of Nowhere. It seemed like yesterday they were pulling in here for the first time. It also seemed like forever since they were here last, instead of almost three weeks. As the Hendersons walked up to the front door, Carl said, "Y'know, strange as this may sound, I kind of like coming back here."

"Yeah, me too," said Kevin. Sandy nodded her head in agreement. Diane still felt a little frightened about what had happened last time she was here, but decided to show support for her family and agreed with them.

As Carl knocked on the door, Sandy and Kevin looked at Katie again. She was staring at Mr. Furry as if she was expecting him to say something to her. Sandy and Kevin exchanged worried glances.

"Hello?" asked Carl, who pushed the door open. It was surprisingly dark inside. Carl took a step inside. "Hello?" he called out again.

"Carl, I don't..." began Diane.

"SURPRISE!" shouted Muriel as the lights blinked on. In the middle of the living room was a large banner that said "Welcome back, Hendersons" on it. Muriel and Courage were behind the sofa while Eustace was at the light switch. The Hendersons were indeed surprised. Muriel and Eustace wasted no time greeting the Hendersons. As the people greeted each other, Courage heard a small voice cry out, "Courage!" He looked and saw Sandy running towards him. Before he knew it, Sandy gave Courage a great big hug. Courage smiled; he had waited over two and a half weeks for this moment. 

"I missed you so much," said Sandy in Courage's ear.

"Me too," answered Courage.

They held each other until they heard "Awww"s coming from the Hendersons and Muriel. After that, they let each other go, out of embarrassment, but before they could say anything, Carl announced, "What is that delicious smell?"

The Hendersons caught sight of the food. "Did you make all that for us?" asked a shocked Diane. "Oh, Muriel, you shouldn't have!"

"It was the least I could do, Diane," answered Muriel.

"Well, let's eat! I'm starving!" exclaimed Eustace.

"Me too!" said Kevin, and he ran into the kitchen, followed by everyone else. 

Courage went into the kitchen last. He was so hungry and Sandy was talking to him so intently, he didn't notice that Katie was looking at him a little oddly... 

  
  


And speaking of odd events, it was around this time that the secret agents arrived in Nowhere. By this time, the agents were nearly at each other's throats. Agent Gammon was driving this time, and Agent Barsby kept saying that he drove the RV better than Gammon. The only music anyone thought to bring was a Craig David CD that Agent Darkest Moon brought along, but Agent Jonathan R didn't want to hear it because "he wasn't in the mood." Everything from rest stops to directions to conversations always ended up in an argument between the four agents. As they approached Nowhere, they were already deep in another argument.

"Gammon, you're on the yellow line, again," said Barsby.

"I keep telling you, Barsby, it's this RV! It's so wide!" shouted Gammon.

"Guys," said Agent D.M., trying to get their attention.

"I'm just saying you shouldn't go too far into the opposite lane," continued Barsby.

"How would you know?!" blurted out Gammon. "Where you come from, they drive on the other side of the road!"

Agent R interrupted them. "What's that got to do with anything?"

"Did we ask you to join this conversation, Mr. R?" complained Gammon.

"Guys," said D.M., again.

"No, Gammon, you didn't," answered Agent R, sarcastically.

"Then stay out of it. This one's between him and me," declared Gammon, as he pointed to Barsby.

"If he kept both hands on the steering wheel, maybe I wouldn't complain about his driving!" shouted Barsby.

"Hey, guys!" yelled little D.M. "Are we...?"

Gammon interrupted her. "D.M., if you ask us 'Are we there yet' one more time..."

"We ARE there!" interrupted Agent R. "See?!" He pointed out in front of the van. The RV was just about to pass a sign on the side of the road that read "Nowhere City Limits".

After a while, Agent R spoke up again. "You guys know what our problem is?"

"Yeah," said Gammon. "I'm stuck in a vehicle with a bunch of philistines." (As you can see, Gammon is not in the best of moods right now.)

Agent R ignored his remark. "We've been stuck inside this camper for the past five hours. I say the first motel in Nowhere we come to, we get a room there. Does that sound like a good idea?"

For once, everyone agreed.

They didn't wait long to find one. The RV rode into the parking lot and was turned off.

"Now remember," said Agent R as the four agents headed toward the motel lobby. "We're tourists from Virginia. We do not blow our cover as agents unless absolutely necessary. We have a lot riding on our shoulders for this investigation, so I expect it to run like clockwork, got it?"

Gammon and Barsby agreed. D.M. agreed, too, as she clutched at her camera. She was determined to follow her orders and take pictures of anything out of the ordinary.

She wouldn't be disappointed. You see, the motel that the agents were planning on staying at was called "The Katz Motel".

  
  


(Looks like some familiar bad guys will be making appearances in my story. If you liked the Courage villains in other fanfics, you're REALLY gonna like them coming from me. I'm gonna try and put in as many bad guys into this story as possible, as well as an original "super-villain", so don't worry....you're in for a treat!) 

  
  
  
  



	5. Checking Into the Katz Motel

"Checking Into the Katz Motel"  
  


The four agents walked into the Katz Motel. They tried their best to act like tourists from Virginia. Agent Gammon was wearing a T-shirt with "Sonic the Hedgehog" written on it, jeans, and a pair of Nike Shox (TM). Agent Barsby was wearing a long-sleeve shirt with Big Ben on the front, Bermuda shorts, and sneakers. Agent Darkest Moon wore a black shirt, black pants, and black shoes. The only thing on her that wasn't black was her Sailor Moon hair ribbon. Agent Jonathan R was wearing a loud Hawaiian T-shirt, shorts, and sandals. All the agents were wearing Rayban sunglasses (all agents do for some reason; I believe I mentioned that before) and carrying eight pairs of luggage.

The agents walked up to the front desk and dropped their luggage on the floor. Agent R reached out and rang the bell on the desk. DING! The other agents observed their surroundings. They appeared to be in a normal motel lobby. There was a stack of brochures in one corner and potted plants scattered about the room. Next to the restrooms was a jukebox that was playing a strange techno beat (the one that's always playing whenever Katz is around.)

And speaking of Katz, it was at that moment that he arrived. He was crouched down behind the desk looking for something. When he heard the bell, he slowly stood up straight. It looked as though he was coming up from the floor!

Agents Jonathan R, Gammon, and Barsby were surprised when they beheld Katz. This tall red cat was not who they pictured the clerk to be. 

"Welcome to the Katz Motel," said Katz in a deep voice. The techno music seemed to crescendo. "I am..."

"AAAAAUGH!!! A cat!!!" shrieked D.M., who finally caught sight of him. Instinctively, her finger pushed the camera button and took a picture of Katz. The flash temporarily blinded Katz as he stumbled back from the desk. The other agents didn't know whether to scold D.M. or comfort Katz.

"As I was saying," said a now annoyed Katz whose sight was slowly coming back. "My name is Katz and I will be your host for this evening. Please sign in." With that, he took out a big sign-in book and a quill pen.

Glaring at D.M., Gammon signed in his name, followed by Barsby, D.M., and Agent R.

As they signed in, Katz asked where they were from. Agent R explained that they were tourists from Virginia who decided to head out West for a vacation. Stopping at this tiny desert town was "a complete coincidence." Katz eyed him for a minute before closing the book with their names in it. 

"One room or two?" asked Katz.

Remembering the cramped motel they stayed in last time, all four agents said "Two," at the same time.

Katz immediately walked to the wall and grabbed two keys that were hanging from the wall. He then began walking down a hall. "Walk this way," he said, and he started walking with his head high in the air, because he was inspecting the ceiling for termites. The agents followed. Agent R noticed that D.M. was imitating Katz; she had her head high in the air too. 

"He didn't mean literally," said Agent R to D.M. D.M. walked regularly as Agent R heard a commotion behind him. He sighed as he realized that Gammon and Barsby were arguing about their driving skills again.

The group walked up a flight of stairs and down a hallway with numbered doors on the left wall. A balcony to the right overlooked the parking lot. D.M. took a couple photos along the way. 

"Here we are!" said Katz. "Rooms 304 and 306." He gave the keys to the agents. "I'll be at the front desk," said Katz as he walked off. Before he turned the corner, he glanced over his shoulder. "Scream if you need anything," and he disappeared from view.

The agents stood in the hall feeling very nervous. They had a hunch that this Katz character was a bad egg. In fact, this entire town gave the agents and inexplicable feeling of uneasiness. Other agents had said that they felt "strange" upon visiting towns where weird stuff happens. The four agents were now experiencing this feeling for the first time.

"I've got a bad feeling about this place," said Agent R. This sentence was obviously on the minds of the other agents too.

Agents R and D.M. took Room 304 while Gammon and Barsby took Room 306. Agent R decided that putting Gammon and Barsby in the same room would give them the opportunity to "iron out their differences." Neither of them were pleased about this, but Gammon and Barsby eventually agreed to be roommates. 

In Room 304, Agent R dialed a phone number on the phone while Agent D.M. took pictures out the window. A voice at the end spoke up. It was the Boss.

"Well, are you there?" Boss said.

"We're at the town, Boss. Right on schedule."

"Excellent," said Boss. "Now I want you and your partners to go out and investigate the incidences that have occurred there. Interviews, museum tours, the works. Do you understand?"

Agent R scratched his head. He wasn't sure if any of the locals would talk or if there was even a museum in Nowhere! Talking to his father was never an easy task for Agent Jonathan R.

"Yes, sir," said Agent R.

"Very well. Report back when you have more information."

"Will do," said Agent R, and hung up. He turned and stopped when he saw Agent D.M. staring at him. 

"That was the Boss," said Agent R, who gave a queer smile at her. He felt like an idiot. Of course it was the Boss! Who else would he call?!

Agent D.M. smiled back, blushing slightly, and turned back to the window. Agent R thought about saying something to her when the phone rang again. It was Agent Gammon. He ordered Agent R to explain to Barsby why he should have custody over the remote control.

Agent R hung up the phone and turned to D.M. "Excuse me, I'll be right back."

"Take your time," said D.M., shyly. As she watched Agent R leave, she thought that he was still a little weird, but maybe she just saw a side of him that he didn't ordinarily show. (In other words, Agent R has never done very well around women.)  
  


As the Agents were getting themselves acquainted, Courage and the Hendersons were getting themselves RE-acquainted. Muriel had gone all out with lunch, and the Hendersons couldn't stop complimenting her about it. Muriel was charmed about receiving so much recognition. Carl and Diane begged her to give them some recipes, and Muriel agreed as Eustace kept stuffing his face with foie gras. 

Courage and Sandy were eating lunch under the table. They kindly stared at each other as they ate. They couldn't say much because Kevin and Muriel kept giving them food under the table. Sandy couldn't wait to tell Courage about her trip to San Francisco, and Courage couldn't wait to tell Sandy about....anything that came to mind. 

When everyone was more or less done with lunch, the Hendersons moved all their luggage into the basement again. As the Hendersons put their belongings into drawers, they noticed an incredibly large lock on the basement doors. Apparently, it was designed to keep out any unexpected vortexes. 

When they were done, they came back upstairs just in time to see Muriel running towards them with a newspaper. 

"Look at this!" she exclaimed. "There's a movie playing at the drive-in theater tonight! A really good one! Why don't we all go see it?"

Courage thought that it was brilliant idea. This was the perfect opportunity to talk to Sandy and spend some private time with her.

"That sounds like a great idea! What do you think, Dear?" asked Carl to Diane.

"Well, as long as it's not too scary," said Diane.

"C'mon, Mom," said Kevin. "I'm sure it's not that scary. Let me see the rating."

As Kevin looked in the paper, Courage observed Katie for the first time in three weeks. Courage gulped and his blood ran cold. He immediately noticed something was different about her. Sure, she appeared the same, but when Katie looked at Courage, it was with a look that spooked him clear down to his furry toes. Courage glanced at Sandy. She merely shrugged her shoulders as if to say, "I don't know what's wrong with her either." Courage made a mental note to steer clear of Katie for now as he went upstairs to the bathroom.

Muriel turned to the Hendersons. "The movie is in a few hours, so why don't you all come outside. We made some moderations to the barn and chicken coop!"

So, as Eustace, Muriel, and the Hendersons toured around outside, Courage took a quick bath with mixed thoughts going through his mind. He was glad the Hendersons were back, curious about the movie tonight, and excited about spending time with Sandy. However, these thoughts were marred by Katie's behavior. Sandy and maybe Kevin were aware of her as well. He needed to talk to them about that. Courage hoped they could figure out what was wrong with her before something bad happened.  
  


(F.Y.I., Katz isn't the only villain at the Katz Motel right now. Expect to see a whole lot more bad guys in the next chapter, "Lights, Camera, Villains"!)  
  


  
  


  
  
  
  


  
  
  
  
  
  



	6. Lights, Camera, Villains

"Lights, Camera, Villains"

  
  


As the sun began heading towards the horizon, the four agents began planning their door to door investigation. The plan was to interview the other tenants of the motel and see if they had any information regarding the strange events that had occurred in the town of Nowhere. The agents divided the motel up into four sections. At 6:00 PM, they changed into their agent uniforms (like the 'Men in Black'...shades and all.) Fifteen minutes later, they set out. 

Agent Gammon headed down the stairs toward Section 1. He found three rooms vacant before he came across the fourth one. He heard an accordion playing inside. Gammon knocked on the door and the accordion stopped. A moment later, the door opened. You can imagine the look on Gammon's face when he saw a two-and-a-half foot tall duck staring up at him. He was wearing a toupee and a moustache. 

"Yes? What do you want?" asked the duck in a French accent.

Still trying to get over the shock, Gammon shakily said, "Excuse me, um, Mr...."

"Le Quack," said the duck. "Now what do you want?"

Gammon cleared his throat and spoke in a more professional tone. "I, uh, would like to ask you a few questions. You see I'm from the government, and..."

SLAM! Le Quack shut the door in his face.

Gammon leaned into the window. "I just want to ask you a few questions!"

Le Quack peered at him through the glass. "Go away. I do not trust you American agent peoples." With that, Le Quack drew the curtains on him.

Gammon stepped back and thought to himself. He didn't know whether this Le Quack guy was avoiding him because he hated government people....or because he was hiding something. A funny feeling told him it was the latter. But it didn't appear as though Le Quack was going to let him in, no matter how hard he tried. So Gammon gave up and decided to see if any other tenants in his section would talk.

Gammon searched the entire section and found nothing. He wasn't surprised. This tiny desert town didn't have an interstate running through it, so business was bound to be slow. But just before he turned to go back to his room, Agent Gammon noticed a door at the very end of the hall. Gammon knocked on it and a furry creature answered it. Gammon was no doubt surprised that a dog-sized gerbil wearing a plaid shirt was taking residence in that room.

"Hey there!" said the gerbil in a Southern accent. "Doc Gerbil's the name! What can I do for ya?"

"Hi," said Agent Gammon. He thought it was wise not to say that he was from the government this time. "I want to ask you a few questions for a.....survey. Can I come in?"

"Well, sure now! Hey, you're not from the FDA, are you?"

Gammon could see why Doc Gerbil asked that. Inside the suite was a large collection of pharmaceutical equipment. Pill boxes, medications, and syringes were scattered throughout the room.

"Now I know what yer thinkin', and I gotta tell you that I only sell these products. I don't use them myself." Gammon was about to say something, but Doc quickly cut him off. "And yes, I do have a license." Doc Gerbil held up his license for Gammon to inspect. Gammon saw that it was authentic.

"Now then," continued Doc Gerbil as he sat in a chair. "What are these here questions you wanted to ask me?"

"Right," said Gammon said, and he sat in a chair opposite Doc Gerbil. Gammon took a little notepad and a pencil from his pocket. "Now, um, Mr. Gerbil, do you live here?"

"No. I actually live several miles down the road. In an underground home."

Gammon wrote the info down in his notepad. "Do you recall any strange activities that have occurred in this town, since you've been here?"

"Well, no," said Doc Gerbil. "Not that I recall."

"Have you always been a medical retailer?"

"Huh?" asked Doc Gerbil. "Oh! You mean my nearby merchandise. Well, no, actually I was a vacuum cleaner salesman for a while. But, y'know, going back to that strange occurrence question, I suddenly remember something."

"Could you elaborate?" asked Gammon, excited to see that he was getting somewhere.

Doc Gerbil paused. He had figured out by now that Gammon's outfit implied that he worked for a serious corporation. Maybe even the government! Therefore, Doc Gerbil didn't want to tell Gammon about the illegal experiments he had previously conducted on Courage's masters. So he said, "Well, this little pink dog that lives on the outskirts of this here town snuck into my house once and, uh, disappeared as soon as he had left. Very odd, if you ask me." Doc Gerbil decided to leave out the part about the boat chase and the waterfall. (Just like in the episode, remember?)

"I see," said Gammon. "So you used to be a vacuum cleaner salesman?"

"Yeah, and I also sold cosmetics for.....Hey, what kind of a survey is this?"

Gammon saw that his cover was being blown, so he quickly said, "That's irrelevant. Thank you for your time." And he dashed out the door.

"Now wait just a minute," declared Doc Gerbil, as he started to chase after Gammon. "What...?"

Doc Gerbil looked out into the hallway. Nobody was there. Doc Gerbil scratched his head with puzzlement.

Gammon had leaped down the stairs and into a corridor. So...a little pink dog. So far that was the only piece of strange information Gammon had received. That and the fact that he had just been talking to a duck and a gerbil! Gammon realized that he had just completed his section and seeing nothing else to do, he decided to go into Section 2 and see how Agent Barsby was doing.

  
  


Speaking of Barsby, he was deep in a conversation with the Queen of the Black Puddle. She was the only tenant in Barsby's section. Barsby had knocked on the door and the Queen had answered. She was the most attractive, yet purple, woman Barsby had ever seen. They asked questions for about fifteen minutes. The Queen was acting suspiciously generous and kind throughout the interview.

"Now, tell me again what happened," said Barsby.

The Queen spoke in a very seductive voice. "Well, like I said, I live in an underwater home. One day, when I had an old man over at my house, a pink dog with a scuba tank broke into my house and tried to kidnap the old man. I was asleep at the time, but I awoke just in time to stop him." Of course, none of that was really true. She actually lured the old man (Eustace, of course) to her underwater home to devour him. Courage had actually swum down there to save him. The Queen's story was false, but Barsby believed it.

"Hmmm..." he hummed to himself. "How many pink dogs are in this town?"

"Just one that I know of," said the Queen. She got up from her chair and opened up a drawer. She began searching for a bottle of perfume.

Barsby was just about to ask her another question when he caught sight of a picture standing on a table next to one of the beds. The picture showed a horrible purple beast that was showing its fangs and reaching for the camera with hideous claws. Barsby was surprised to see that the eyes of this beast were the exact shade of purple as the Queen! (The picture is of the Queen in her "true form" but Barsby doesn't know that.)

As Barsby stood staring at the picture, the Queen found her perfume bottle. It didn't contain perfume, however. It contained a love potion. Her plan was to spray the love potion in Barsby's face, create a puddle of water on the floor, and lure Barsby down to her home so she could eat him.

Barsby looked away from the picture as the Queen hid the perfume bottle behind her back.

"What's that a picture of?" asked Barsby, who pointed to the portrait.

The Queen was just about to bring her hand out from behind her back to spray Barsby, when suddenly, Agent Gammon appeared in the doorway.

"Hey, Barsby!" he shouted.

The Queen threw the bottle into the drawer and shut it.

"Yeah?" asked Barsby, slightly annoyed.

"Are you done with your investigation yet?"

Barsby sighed. For once, he decided not to bring up another argument with Gammon. "Yeah, I'm done," he said. He walked out of the room. "Thanks for your time, ma'am," Barsby called out to the tenant. He then closed the door.

The Queen of the Black Puddle snapped her finger in agitation. "Why did that other agent have to come at that exact moment?" she asked herself.

Outside in the hallway, Gammon and Barsby began arguing once again. "Why did you have to waltz in like that for?" asked Barsby to Gammon.

"I'm just looking after your safety. That's all," answered Gammon.

"Well, I'll look after my own safety if you don't mind," argued Barsby.

"Look, you were assigned to bring any unusual information about this town to me for cataloging, right?"

"Right," said Barsby reluctantly. He wished the Boss had given that job to HIM.

"Well, what have you found out?"

"Well, the purplish lady was just telling me about how some strange pink dog was running around this town."

"Interesting," said Gammon, whose tone of voice had changed. "One of my interviewees also spoke about a pink dog."

"Y'think they could be related?" asked Barsby.

"I think we both know the answer to that one," said Gammon.

Suddenly, a shriek of fright was heard from down the hall. 

"D.M.!" cried Gammon and Barsby. 

  
  


The two agents raced down the corridor, turned a corner, and ran head-on into Agent Darkest Moon. They fell on their rears and took a moment to catch their breaths.

"D.M.! What's wrong?" asked Barsby.

Agent D.M. looked as though she had seen a ghost. Her eyes were wide and her breath was coming out in short bursts. A bang of hair fell over her forehead.

"Feet!" shouted D.M.

Gammon and Barsby looked at each other. "Feet?"

"Big feet!" shouted D.M.

Gammon glared at her. "Let me guess," he said sarcastically. "You saw Bigfoot, right?"

"No.......at least, I don't think I did," quivered D.M.

"What do you mean?" asked Barsby.

D.M. gulped. "I saw a large, hairy figure at the other end of the hall. I tried following him but he was too fast. I took out my camera, went around the cover, and he just vanished!"

Gammon rolled his eyes after hearing that unbelievable story. Barsby was more lenient, though. "And then what?" he asked.

"Well, I went back down the hall and I came across the only resident in my section. He was..."

"What? What???" asked Barsby.

"He was a foot! A big, purple, fungus-covered foot!"

"D.M..." grumbled Gammon.

"And he had faces! A single face was on each toe!"

"D.M...."

"And they could talk! The big toe had an 'Al Capone' accent and..."

"D.M.!!!" shouted Gammon.

D.M. looked at Gammon with large, frightened eyes. Instead of yelling at her, Gammon pulled Barsby off to the side. 

"She's talking crazy," whispered Gammon. "We need to get her out of here. She's not well enough to carry out this case."

"Hey," said Barsby. "In case you haven't noticed, her story is no more outlandish than what's already happened to us. That lady I interviewed is...different, somehow."

"What are you talking about?" demanded Gammon.

"I mean, all the tenants of this motel are all very unusual. Who did you see in your section?"

Gammon looked down at his feet. "A duck....and a gerbil. They could talk and..."

"Don't you see what's going on?" Barsby now spoke loud enough so that D.M. could hear. "This motel is full of freaks! I say, we go find Agent R and discuss this with him!"

"What if he doesn't believe us?" asked Gammon.

Barsby looked at D.M., then at Gammon. "I have a feeling that he's interviewing some strange people too. C'mon."

The three agents walked down the hall towards the lobby. Neither of them saw the security camera on the ceiling that was watching their every move.

  
  


Behind the front desk, Katz was watching a TV monitor. It was showing the three agents walking down the hall. The camera didn't have a microphone, so Katz didn't know what they were saying. But he knew something weird was going on.

Agent Jonathan R entered the lobby. He didn't see any tenants in his section. Therefore, he decided to have a little chat with Katz.

"Mr. Katz?" asked Agent R as he entered the lobby.

Katz quickly turned the TV off and looked Agent R in the eye. "Yes. What is it?"

"I need to ask you a few questions."

Katz was immediately distrustful of this person in uniform. He looked like some sort of secret agent or something. Katz began hatching a plan so he find out more about this guy.

"Very well," said Katz. "But first, I need to see some identification. Your signature in the check-in book was too hard to read."

Agent R sighed. He took a fat wallet out of his pocket and gave it to Katz. Katz was amazed as he flipped through the numerous ID cards in the agent's wallet. Agents are required to carry fake ID cards with them so they can impose as other people. Katz was just about to hand the wallet back to Agent R when he suddenly caught sight of a large card poking out of a secret back pocket. Katz had a hunch that it was the man's real ID card.

Thinking quickly, Katz said, "I'm afraid I'll need my reading glasses. Could you hand me them? They're over by that table." Katz pointed to a table behind Agent R's back.

As Agent R went to get the glasses, Katz's eyes widened as he read the card. This man actually was a secret government agent! Katz put the card back before Agent R returned with the glasses.

"Here you go," said Agent R, and he handed Katz the glasses.

Katz put them on and began reading one of the fake ID cards. At the same time, the other three agents entered the lobby.

"Ahh, yes. Now I see it. This name does indeed match the one in the book." With that, Katz handed the wallet back to Agent R. The other three agents looked very nervous by now. Gammon began tugging on Agent R's sleeve.

"What is it?" asked Agent R, in an annoyed voice.

"There's something strange going on here," Gammon whispered.

Barsby leaned on the front desk and looked right at Katz. "What kind of a motel are you running here?"

"Yeah," interrupted D.M. "And what do you know about a little pink dog around these parts?"

Katz looked shocked upon hearing D.M.'s question.

Agent R was puzzled. "What are you three talking about?"

Katz spoke up first. "Maybe it would be best if you four discussed this your rooms."

"I think that's a good idea," said Agent R. "C'mon, guys." He headed out of the lobby.

Agents Gammon, Barsby, and D.M. were stunned. How could Agent R not see that this motel was not a regular motel? Didn't he interview anyone else besides Katz? Well, they'd have plenty of time to give him the details once they were in their rooms.

As Katz watched the four agents walk off, he headed toward the telephone. The government card had proved his suspicions that those four people were government agents. Worse, they knew that the place was full of bad guys like him. Worst of all, they had heard about Courage, or at least, "a pink dog in the area". If they teamed up with that dog, the villains could be disposed of very easily.

Katz began dialing a number that led to one of the rooms. "I think it's time for me and the tenants to have a little meeting," said Katz to himself.

The sun had just disappeared below the horizon.


	7. Cemetaries, Popcorn, and Evil Plans

"Cemeteries, Popcorn, and Evil Plans"  
  


By this time, the first stars began appearing in the sky. At the old drive-in theater on the outskirts of Nowhere, two vehicles drove through the front gates. One was the Henderson's station wagon. The other was Eustace's truck. The two vehicles parked side by side in front of the giant screen.

Courage got out of the truck. He felt that Eustace and Muriel should spend some time together, although Courage had a feeling that Eustace would be more interested in the movie than in Muriel. Courage walked up to the Henderson's car, jumped onto the hood, and climbed up the windshield to the roof. Kevin and Sandy had already set up a small inflatable couch on the roof. Courage sat on the couch next to Sandy. They exchanged some friendly greetings as they watched their families get ready for the movie. The film was starting in about 15 minutes, so the Hendersons went to get some refreshments. During that time, Sandy told Courage all about her stay in San Francisco. She had seen so many interesting landmarks, like the Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman's Wharf, and Alcatraz Island. Courage was enjoying every bit of it...until Sandy talked about the cemetery. Courage felt a chill go through him as Sandy recalled the strange events that went on in the cemetery.

The cemetery that the Hendersons visited was the largest cemetery in the city. From the moment they set foot in that place, they felt very uncomfortable. You may recall, their last experience with ghosts occurred only a few days before. In fact, the only reason the Hendersons went there at all was because Aunt Vivian and Uncle Mike recommended it. Not wanting to be rude, the Hendersons reluctantly accepted. The tour had come and gone, and the Hendersons were just about to leave the place when they noticed that Katie was missing! They went back to search for her. Kevin found her staring in awe at a huge tombstone with an elaborate angel on it. Kevin led her back to the front of the cemetery. That's when Katie remembered she had left Mr. Furry back at the tombstone.

"So Kevin, Katie, and I went back and found Mr. Furry, and then all of us left," said Sandy. "And now, Katie has been acting peculiar ever since." 

Courage was speechless. Sandy's spooky story had left him feeling very nervous and jittery.

"There's more," whispered Sandy. "The area around the grave had no grass growing on it. There wasn't a living thing growing within ten feet of the tombstone. It's almost as if someone wanted it that way." The way Sandy said that made Courage's fur stand on end. "That's not the worst part though." Courage's eyes widened as Sandy continued. "As we were walking back, I saw Katie talking to Mr. Furry, but it was as if she was engaging in an actual conversation with it!"

Courage let out a sharp whine of fear.

Sandy looked at Courage with a look of worry on her face. "I've never seen her talk to that bear like that before. And Kevin knows about it too."

Courage thought for a second. "You think...?"

"The cemetery? Of course the cemetery caused her to act like this. But as to how and why, it's anyone's guess."

Courage gulped. Fortunately the movie began playing right at that moment. "Whew," said Courage. This movie was just the thing to take his mind off of all this scariness.

The movie wasn't really that great. It was some type of cheap thriller/romance involving some overacting hero trying to save the town and the girl at the same time. The adults got a big kick out of it though. Kevin spent most of the time observing Katie. He noticed that she was talking to Mr. Furry more frequently than ever before. Kevin thought about coming out and asking her what was going on, but for some inexplicable reason, he didn't. All Kevin knew for sure was that Katie began acting this way the moment they left the cemetery in San Francisco. He wanted to ask Sandy about it, but he knew she was a little preoccupied at the moment.

Courage and Sandy watched the movie on top of the Henderson's car, paw in paw. Courage felt so comfortable sitting next to Sandy on the inflatable sofa. However, he was getting so wrapped up in the movie, he forgot Sandy was even there. That is, until a romantic scene near the end of the movie, when Sandy, after some thought, planted a quick kiss on Courage's cheek. Courage turned his head and was met with Sandy's embarrassed smile. Courage just smiled back at her. They both looked at each other for a moment, then...well, let's just say neither of them saw the end of the movie.

When the movie ended, Kevin had the embarrassing task of alerting the dogs that it was time to go home. Kevin was a little shocked to see Sandy embracing Courage, since he never expected Sandy to have such an affection towards Courage so soon. But Kevin quickly accepted it and broke the two of them up. Courage and Sandy were slightly embarrassed, and Courage walked back to the truck feeling rather light-headed and relaxed.

"What did you do that for?" asked an irritated Sandy to Kevin.

"It's time to go home," answered Kevin.

Sandy sighed with annoyance as she climbed into the car. "Sorry," called out Kevin.

The ride back home was uneventful. Once at the house, a wave of exhaustion came over everybody. The Hendersons once again thanked Eustace and Muriel for letting them stay at their house. Then, everyone went to sleep except Courage, who stayed up and watched the stars for a few minutes. All in all, the evening had been very interesting.  
  


However, on the other side of town, the four agents were wide awake. Agent R had been informed by the other agents about the motel's tenants. At first, Agent R didn't believe them, but then they showed him the sign-in book. Katz was in the restroom at the time, so he didn't see the agents looking through the bizarre names in the book. Agent R began getting a weird feeling just then, and he told his partners that he believed them.

Now it was late, and the agents were in their rooms. Agent Barsby had finished brushing his teeth while Agent Gammon was sketching something in his notepad. 

Barsby peeked over Gammon's shoulder. He saw two sketches surrounded by Gammon's notes. One was of a mean-looking armadillo with the name Rex printed next to it. The other looked a bit like Sonic the Hedgehog, only darker and more sinister. 

"What are you doing?" asked Barsby.

Gammon quickly closed his notebook. "Nothing," he snapped.

"You're supposed to be writing notes about this place!" reminded Barsby.

"I am! Will you quit whining about it?" shouted Gammon.

Barsby turned and walked back into the restroom. "A few more days with that lunatic and I'll go crazy," thought Barsby. "But I can't give this mission up. I'll have to put up with him as best I can."

Gammon was wrapped up in his own thoughts at that moment. "Can I help it if I show my creative brilliance every once in a while? I don't see why that guy has to be so intrusive anyway."

Barsby came back into the room. "So, are we going into town tomorrow?"

Gammon put his notebook into his suitcase. "Absolutely. We need more people to investigate if we want a full report."

"Well, are we prepared?"

Gammon glanced at Barsby. "We're agents, remember? We're always prepared."  
  


"I'm not prepared!" whined Agent Darkest Moon in the adjacent room.

"What do mean?" asked Agent R. He had just climbed into bed. D.M. was pacing around the room.

"I don't know if I have all the experience I need to carry out an investigation tomorrow."

"You should've thought about that before you signed up for this," mumbled Agent R.

"What?! I never 'signed up' for this! I was tossed head-first into this case!" blurted D.M.

"Hey, we all were, OK?" argued Agent R.

After a brief pause, Agent R spoke up. "Look, I'm sorry. It's late and I tend to get like this when I don't get enough sleep. I'm sure you'll do just fine tomorrow."

"Really?" asked D.M.

"Sure! Just keep that camera clicking." Agent R then turned out the light.

Agent D.M. got into the other bed. Agent R was right. All four agents had been thrown into this mess for no reason, and now they would just have to carry it out as best they could. 

"R?" asked D.M.

"What?" 

"What if we run into that pink dog the tenants were talking about?"

Agent R sighed. "We'll worry about that once we see him. If the dog is as evil as everyone says he is, we might have to interrogate him. Now, let's get some sleep, OK?"

D.M. agreed. "Oh, and D.M.?" asked Agent R.

"Yes?"

"Call me Jonathan. I'm sick of everyone referring to me as a letter of the alphabet."

"OK," smiled D.M. With that, she closed her eyes and wondered if anything interesting would happen tomorrow.

She didn't know that something was already happening twenty feet below her.  
  


In the motel basement, a long table was set up in the middle of the room. Seated at the table were the hotel tenants and some special guests. Katz was at one end of the table, while Eustace's Ma sat at the other end. The others included Le Quack, Doc Gerbil, Foot Fungus, the Weremole, Mad Dog, and the Queen of the Black Puddle.

Eustace's Ma was trying to get everyone in order. "OK, everyone, settle down! Hey, mole! Stop chewing on the table!"

A glass of water stood on the table in front of Katz. He took a spoon and knocked it against the glass. The "ting, ting, ting!" sound got everyone's attention. "Now then," said Katz, calmly. "Does everyone know why we're here?"

"TO GET THAT STUPID DOG!!!" shouted everyone.

Katz sighed. "Yes, I know that's all on your minds, but I'm afraid we have an even bigger problem right now. There are government agents taking residence in this very motel!"

An mild uproar ensued. Voices declaring "What?! Is that really true?" and "I knew it!" echoed off the walls. 

Katz continued. "I understand that some of you have been interviewed by these agents, am I right?"

"You got that right!" shouted Doc Gerbil. "I had a feeling that guy was working for the government."

"One of zem tried to interview me, but I did not allow him in," declared Le Quack.

"I almost got rid of one," said the Queen.

"Yeah, and I tried to step on one. Nyah," said the Foot's big toe.

"Right," said Katz. "And those of you who were interviewed made sure to tell them about Courage and his 'evil behavior', right?"

The interviewees nodded and laughed evilly.

"Why would you do that?" asked the little toe on the Foot.

"Because," said Katz. "It will mislead the agents into thinking Courage is evil like us. Then, once they come across him, they'll get rid of him for us!"

"Yeah," said the Big Toe. He then hit the toe next to his head, which caused a chain reaction to the little toe, who then cried, "Ow! What'd I say? What'd I say?"

Ma spoke up next. "But right now, we need to focus on getting the agents out of this motel! That is our current goal!"

"Correct!" agreed Katz. "Now, Ma and I have come up with a plan that will eradicate these agents from our motel. Now, due to the time it will take to set everything up, we will need to wait until tomorrow night to put it in action."

"And then, we focus on Courage?" asked Mad Dog.

"Precisely," said Katz. Being a cat, he wasn't particularly pleased with Mad Dog being near him, but Mad Dog's thoughts were more on Courage than they were on him, so he had nothing to worry about. 

"Good," growled Mad Dog. "Because ever since he took Bunny away from me I've wanted to just grab that dog's neck and..." He was so enraged, he couldn't finish his sentence. Instead, he took a rubber ball from his pocket and squeezed it until it popped. Everyone else admired how much anger he had towards Courage.

"Well...everyone gather round," said Katz. "Here's what I want everybody to do...."

As Katz discussed his plan, the clock struck midnight.  
  
  
  


  
  
  
  



	8. The Agents Meet the Hendersons

"The Agents Meet the Hendersons"  
  


(A.N. For this chapter, I'm going to do something I've never done before. I'm going to cross over this chapter into a chapter of my cartoon crossover story, "Crossed Over". Characters and events from Chapter 9 of the "Crossed Over" story will appear in this chapter and vice versa. Try switching back and forth between these two chapters to compare them. So, let's see how this all plays out.)  
  


The sun was starting its climb up into the sky. Eustace, Muriel, Courage, and the Hendersons had all finished their breakfasts and were now planning for the day ahead. The Hendersons were going to go into town to do some shopping. Courage wanted to go with them but Muriel needed help around the house. The door of the chicken coop had broken off again, and the house was a mess. She wanted Eustace and Courage to stay and help clean up the place. Both of them reluctantly agreed. All three of them waved good-bye as the Henderson's car headed toward Nowhere for the day.

Before they arrived, Kevin got out of his seat and sat with Sandy in the rear of the station wagon. They talked about what happened last night between Sandy and Courage. They argued a bit, but Kevin soon admitted that he knew something was going to develop between her and Courage the moment they first saw each other. Sandy gave Kevin a hug and said that she was proud of Kevin for acting so mature about the whole thing.

"Aww, quit it," whispered Kevin bashfully. "You sound like my Mom."

Speaking of which, Diane spoke up next, interrupting the moment. "Kevin, would you please get back in your seat, dear? They probably have very strict laws concerning seat belts around here."

Sighing loudly, Kevin returned to his seat next to Katie.

Diane leaned over to Carl, who was driving. "I'm beginning to worry about him, Carl."

"I know," said Carl. "He talks to that dog as if he expects it to answer him or something."

Diane sighed. "It's probably just a phase."

Kevin, who overheard the entire conversation, was stunned. If it was anyone they should be worrying about, it was Katie! Fortunately, his parents were oblivious to anything that their kids were doing, and it was going to stay that way. After all, Sandy could talk back to Kevin, but Mr. Furry certainly couldn't talk back to Katie.

Could he?

The Henderson's car soon arrived in Nowhere. The car stopped in a parking lot and the Hendersons quickly got out. They didn't know that a familiar RV was parked in a different parking lot not too far away. Apparently, the four secret agents had left the motel in order to investigate the town. Katz had given them all the evil eye, but all the agents, except Agent R, thought that Katz simply hated government officials. Agent R, meanwhile, couldn't help wondering if Katz had something more sinister in mind...  
  


The plan was to split up and interview as many people as possible. Each agent walked down a separate road. 

Agent R spotted someone almost at once. It was a teenage boy, about 18, who was taking a drink of water at a water fountain. He had brown hair and looked as though he had been traveling for a long time. Agent R quickly took out his notebook and a pencil and walked up to the thirsty teen.

"Excuse me, sir. Can I ask you a few questions?" asked Agent R.

"Uh, sure," said the teen, uncomfortably. He glanced down and saw Agent R's ID tag, which was stitched onto his suit. "Ask away, Mr. R."

"That's Agent R," corrected the agent.

The teen seemed surprised to discover that he was a secret agent. Civilians always acted that way for some reason. 

Agent R put his pencil to his notebook. "Name?"

"Jonathan," mumbled the teen.

The agent quirked an eyebrow at him. They both had the same name! What a coincidence, thought Agent R to himself.

"Do you live here, Jonathan?" asked Agent R.

"Oh, no," Jonathan said. "I'm just passing through." 

Phooey, thought Agent R. This person wasn't a resident of Nowhere at all. "Have you ever been here before?" he asked.

"No," said Jonathan. 

Agent R sighed. He put the notepad and pencil in his pocket, looked at Jonathan, and said, "Sorry I took up your time." With that, Agent R walked down the sidewalk and ducked into a side alley. He had just wasted five perfectly good minutes on a tourist! "Well, back to square one," mumbled Agent R. He emerged from the alley and began questioning a little girl with a jump rope.  
  


Nearby, Agent Darkest Moon walked into a pet store. She wanted to ask the store owner some questions, but the TV inside the building was distracting her. An "X-Files" rerun was showing, and D.M. decided to watch it. When the commercials came on, she decided to begin her interrogation of the pet shop owner. However, some yipping sounds caused her to look towards the front of the store. A huge pen containing six yellow puppies was placed behind the front window. Without thinking, D.M. walked up to the store owner and said, "Excuse me. Could I, um, play with the puppies?"

"Why sure!" said the pet store owner. The old man walked over to the puppies' playpen and helped D.M. inside. "Now you stay put while I go find something in the back room, y'hear?" The kindly old man then walked through a door in the back of the building. 

"This is OK," said D.M. as the puppies crowded around her. "I'm just making sure these puppies aren't.....aliens! Yeah, or something weird like that." However, D.M. knew she was only kidding herself. Besides Sailor Moon, puppies were D.M.'s most favorite things in the whole world. They reminded her of when she used to bury herself under stuffed toy dogs when she was little. D.M. rolled onto her back as the puppies began licking her face and wrestling with her. D.M. laughed with joy as she reminded herself that she was just taking a ten-minute break.  
  


Elsewhere, Agent Gammon arrived at a strange stone house. All the previous people he had interviewed provided him with no unusual information at all! Now, as Gammon knocked on the door, he began wondering if this town had any peculiar townspeople at all. Then the door opened and Gammon's thought quickly vanished.

Staring up at him was a freaky little man in a white lab coat. He had black, matted hair and pale skin. He was also surprisingly polite. "Hello there, sir," he said as a did a little bow. "My name is Dr. Zalost. Please, come inside." 

Thirty seconds later, Agent Gammon was sitting on a couch in Dr. Zalost's living room. He was jotting down notes in his notebook. This Zalost character had some odd things in his house. Like that little baby rat wearing a diaper who was playing on a small jungle gym in the corner of the room. Or a plate full of plums that was sitting on a coffee table in front of Gammon.

"Would you like some happy plums?" asked Zalost, who offered the plate to Gammon.

"Um, thanks, but I'm not really hungry right now," he grinned.

"Wonderful food," said Zalost as he put the plate back on the table. "I got the recipe from a sweet old lady who lives on the outskirts of this town."

After Gammon wrote down that bit if information, a thought occurred to him. "You wouldn't mind if I take a few for later do you?"

"Oh, go right on ahead!" said Zalost joyfully. Agent Gammon took out a plastic bag and put some plums in it. He was actually going to take them back to the RV for further study.

"So, um, Dr. Zalost, I'd like to ask you a couple questions if you don't mind," said Agent Gammon.

"Why certainly!" answered Zalost. His baby rat came over to him and jumped up onto his lap. "Awww, I think Rat is feeling tired." Rat yawned to prove his point and collapsed into a deep sleep.

"Yes, well, first off, has anything unusual happened in this town recently?" inquired Gammon.

Dr. Zalost scratched his head in thought. "Not recently, no. At least, not after I was cured."

"Could you elaborate?" asked Gammon with interest.

"Well, for a long time I felt an enormous sense of depression. I felt that if I couldn't be happy, then nobody could be happy. I began spreading my misery to other people in Nowhere. I tried everything to become happy. Medication, money, music, but nothing worked. But then, I discovered these plums! And all my sadness disappeared. After that, I bought this new house and have lived in it ever since." (A.N. Zalost is ashamed of his past, so he decided to leave out the parts about his giant stone tower and the mood-changing cannonballs. And, because he's talking to a secret agent, it's a good thing he did!)

"So, your case of chronic depression has ended, correct?" asked Gammon.

"Yes, and I owe it all to that old lady and her little pink dog. She also-..."

"Uh, sorry for interrupting, but did you just say a 'little pink dog?'"

"Oh yes! A delightful little dog too. I'm afraid to say I didn't like him at first. I even tied him up once to play a not-so-friendly game of Hangman. But after I was cured of my sadness, I realized how friendly and amusing that dog really was. He's lucky to have a master like that old lady."

Gammon began thinking. Dr. Zalost's description of the mysterious pink dog was the exact opposite of what the motel tenants had called him. Was the dog good or bad? Obviously, someone wasn't telling the truth.

"One more thing," continued Gammon. "Do you know where they live?"

Dr. Zalost sighed. "I was so excited from my newfound happiness that I couldn't remember their names or where they live. All I know for sure is that they live somewhere on the outskirts of this very town."

Gammon wrote some more notes. "Well, I think that's enough information for now. Thank you for your time, Dr. Zalost," said Gammon as he walked out the door.

"Bye!" shouted Zalost, happily.  
  


"So you didn't like the old man, did you?"

Agent Barsby was talking to Shirley the Medium. He had wandered to the edge of town and came across Shirley's wagon/home. Barsby had learned a lot by this point. Shirley was a chihuahua-like fortune teller who could cast spells and play the saxophone. Shirley had also seen the pink dog on several occasions and said that the dog lived with a grumpy old man.

"The stupid one is very dim-witted. And greedy too. Not a very good combination if you ask me."

Barsby nodded. "Do you happen to know where they live?"

"Somewhere on the outskirts of Nowhere. I can't seem to remember their names either. Now will you please leave before I alert the authorities?"

For a moment, Barsby wondered why she had asked that. Then he remembered that he was pretending to be someone who was taking a census of the state's population. The government would probably be interested in Shirley's unusual practices and that was why she was acting rather nervous. Taking her hint, Barsby left the building.

Barsby walked through town with a thought running through his head. Those tenants at the motel said that the pink dog was mischievous and evil. But Shirley said that the pink dog was "fairly decent and kind." Barsby wondered which was the correct description. 

Barsby walked past the pet store and did a double take. Right there, in the front window, was Agent D.M. rolling around with a group of puppies. Barsby dashed into the store.

"D.M.!" whispered Barsby loudly. "Get over here."

D.M. climbed out of the playpen. She had wood chips all over her hair and suit.

"What were you doing?" asked Barsby as he picked the wood chips out of D.M.'s hair. "Do you realize what Agent R or Gammon would do if they saw you in there?"

"You won't tell them, will you?" asked D.M. fearfully.

Barsby paused. "No, but only because I like puppies too." Barsby smiled. "Did you take any pictures yet?"

"Of what?" answered D.M.

"I know. This town isn't as exciting as I thought it would be."

"Hey, there you are!" shouted a voice from the door. It was Agent Gammon. "Quit clowning around and come with me. Agent R radioed in and said he found the perfect spot to investigate! Let's go!"

As the three agents ran down the street to meet up with Agent R, they almost knocked over a dark-skinned man with black spiky hair, an earring, and sunglasses. "Watch where you're going, ya fools!" shouted the man to the running agents.  
  


The four agents soon stood in front of the museum. They had surveyed the spot from a restaurant across the street (and had lunch at the same time.) Now they began entering the building.

"Why didn't I think of it before?" thought Gammon. "What better way to find out about a town's history than at a museum?"

"Sssshh," said Agent R. 

The agents observed the museum. Other than the man in the gift shop, the only people in the museum was a family of four. A man, woman, and two kids. They were staring up at two large portraits up on the wall. Each portrait showed an old man in 19th century prospector clothing. As the agents got closer, they were stopped by the expressions on the family's faces. They looked as though they were looking at recently deceased relatives or something! Agent R coughed to get their attention.

"Excuse me," began Agent R. "Do you people live here?"

"No," said Carl. "We're just staying here for a few days on the outskirts of town."

"Oh," said Agent R. "What are your names?"

"I'm Carl Henderson. This is my wife, Diane, and our children, Kevin and Katie." Each family member introduced themselves to the agents. "Who are you?" asked Diane.

"I'm Jonathan," said Agent R. "These are my partners D.M., Gammon, and Barsby. We work for the government."

"Really?" asked Carl.

"Yes," continued Agent R. "We're conducting a private investigation here in town. It only pertains to people who actually live here, of course."

Agent R said that last sentence to calm their suspicions, but Kevin was beginning to feel more uncomfortable by the second. Why didn't these people say which branch of the government they worked for? The female official (D.M.) was taking snapshots of practically every object in the room. And one of the agents (Gammon) had a small electronic device that was pointed right at Katie. Was he monitoring her?

Barsby looked up at the portraits. "Who are they?"

The Hendersons stared up at the portraits of Reginald Baggs and Joseph Williams, the two men who had participated posthumously in the Henderson's last adventure. "They are the town founders," said Diane sadly. "That one is a relative of ours." She pointed to the portrait of Joseph.

Kevin grimaced. Why did his mother have to say that? Now these people were becoming interested. D.M. began taking photos of the two men as well as Kevin's family. Kevin decided that his family needed to get away from these people.

"How do you know that person is a relative of yours?" asked Agent R.

Carl and Diane looked at each other. How were they going to answer? These people wouldn't believe them if they told them the truth. Kevin was equally worried. A lack of an answer could raise the suspicions of these government officials.

So Kevin said, "We've visited this town on a previous occasion to visit an old relative of ours." His parents looked at him with amazement. 

As Agent R finished writing down notes in his notebook, Gammon tugged on his shoulder and motioned to him that they should leave. "Well, thank you for your time, Mr. and Mrs. Henderson. I hope you have a nice stay here." The four agents quickly exited the museum and walked back to their RV.

Kevin's parents turned to him. "Son," said Carl. "Remember that 'family discussion' we had in San Fran about keeping our previous adventure a secret?"

Kevin was about to argue that he didn't reveal their secret, but quickly decided to just agree with them. It would end the conversation quicker. "Yeah, Dad."

"Well, make sure you keep that promise, okay dear?" asked Diane.

"Yes, Mom. Can we go now?"

"Sure, let's go. C'mon, Katie," said Carl.

Katie, who had her thoughts focused on Mr. Furry the entire time, followed her parents to the door. 

"Oh, Kevin," said Carl. "Could you tell Sandy it's time to go?"

Kevin walked over to the door of the women's restroom. He knocked on it a few times, and Sandy came out. Just before the agents came in, Sandy had gone to the restroom due to a lack of trees outside. The oversized toilet and sink were what caused Sandy to take so long. (A.N. Since Sandy has pink fur, and the agents were looking for a pink dog, it's a good thing she took so long in there!)

As they walked out of the museum, Kevin whispered to Sandy, "Something weird just happened. I'll explain later."  
  


The sun was beginning to set. At the RV, the agents reviewed their notes. They told each other about the contrasted reports about the pink dog in town, as well as the kind old woman and the grumpy old man.

"We also know that they all live on the outskirts of town," said Agent Barsby.

"So do the Hendersons," said Agent R.

The other agents looked at him. "What?!" asked Gammon.

"Carl Henderson specifically said that his family was staying 'on the outskirts of town', just like the dog and the old couple."

"What are you saying?" asked D.M. "That they're living together?"

"It's very possible," answered Agent R. He then sighed with frustration. "I should've asked them about the dog."

"Well, I think you should've asked more questions in general," replied Gammon. His voice was beginning to shake a little.

"How so?" asked Agent R curiously.

Gammon reached in his pocket and pulled out his electronic device. "This is an electromagnetic wave detector. They use this to track down ghosts in haunted locations. I had it pointed at the little girl and-..."

"Katie Henderson didn't look like a ghost to me," said Agent R. D.M. giggled.

"I never said she was," said Gammon. "But this is the strange part. When I focused it on the stuffed bear she was holding, the thing went off the scale!"

Agent Barsby and D.M. were trying their best not to laugh. A stuffed animal possessed by a ghost was almost as unbelievable as the entire mission.

Agent R just sighed to himself. "If only we knew where all these people lived, it would solve all our problems."

"Yeah, well if Gammon hadn't been spending all his time with that little ghost detector, I'm sure he would've asked the Hendersons where they lived," said Barsby.

Gammon tossed the device off to the side. "What are you saying? That I'm not doing my job?" 

Agent R gulped. The tension between these two was about to break.

"All I'm saying is that you shouldn't be wasting your time with these little devices when you should be gathering information," said Barsby.

"I was!!!" shouted Gammon. "What do you think I was doing with the detector? Playing Pac-Man on it?!"

"I just don't think it would look good on our report to find out that you were wasting your time with an electromagnetic detector thing."

"Wasting time??!! Look who's talking, Mr. 'I'd rather waste my time in a pet store with D.M.!'"

Agent R was rather surprised by that comment, since no one had informed him of D.M. and Barsby's whereabouts. Barsby, however, was enraged by the comment and ran up to Gammon, there faces just inches apart.

"You leave D.M. out of this," whispered Barsby through clenched teeth.

"Nonsense," said Gammon with a smile on his face. "I think the two of you needed some time alone, surrounded by dogfood and fish tanks."

D.M., who had huddled on a chair since the argument began, thought about decking Gammon across the face, when Barsby took a deep breath and shouted, "Well at least I don't waste MY time taking up space in my notebook sketching STUPID DRAWINGS!!!"

Something snapped inside Gammon, and before anyone knew what was happening, Gammon and Barsby were slammed up against the wall of the RV grabbing at each other's shirts and swinging their fists. Each of them got to hit the other one on the side of the head before Agent R came between them to break up the fight. No black eyes or loose teeth resulted, thanks to Agent R's quick reaction time.

Agent R was angered by Gammon and Barsby's behavior. "Will you cut it out?!" he shouted as he pulled his partners apart.

"He called my sketches stupid!" yelled Gammon. "Let me just hit him one more time!"

"The next person who hits somebody is gonna be taken off this case!" shouted Agent R.

Gammon and Barsby stopped struggling, but Agent R still held them. "I have never in my life seen a more pathetic display than what I just saw! Two grown men fighting over what?! A ghost detector and some drawings?!" Gammon and Barsby squirmed with embarrassment. Agent R continued. "You two had better be lucky that I'm not going to include this little quarrel in our report. Because I don't think the Boss deserves to see this immature behavior! You two have been like this since day one, and it ends here! Do I make myself clear?!!" Gammon and Barsby made little sounds of agreement. 

"I finished my roll," said a small voice to the side.

The three men turned to see little D.M. hold up her camera with water-filled eyes. "I finished my roll of film," she said weakly.

"Good work, D.M." said Agent R. He then let go of Gammon and Barsby. "Now, I don't want to see something like this happen again for the remainder of this case, alright?"

"Yeah," was his answer.

"Gammon, get us back to the motel."

Without a word, Gammon started the engine and drove back to the motel. This time, Barsby didn't make any comments about Gammon's driving.  
  


The Hendersons arrived back home at around the same time the agents arrived at the motel. The sun had already set, and the stars were beginning to come out. Courage, Muriel, and Eustace helped the Hendersons unload the car. The Hendersons had already eaten dinner in town, so they retired to the basement. Courage told Sandy about what had happened when they were gone. Sandy listened with growing interest, but Kevin was only half listening. He caught some parts of the story (something about a zombie dog and a traveling stranger), but Kevin was more focused on Katie again. He noticed Mr. Furry was sitting on a chair as Katie sat on a rug talking to him. Kevin turned his head away for a split second and then looked back to discover that Mr. Furry was now sitting on the sofa! Was Kevin losing his mind? Katie saw Kevin looking at her, so she snatched up Mr. Furry and walked off. 

Kevin snorted. He had put it off long enough. He stormed out of the room, determined to talk to Katie if it was the last thing he did. Suddenly, to his shock, Katie ran up to him with a big smile on her face.

"Hey, Kevin. Do you feel tired? I know I am!"

Kevin was amazed. This was the longest sentence Katie had uttered in days! And she wasn't carrying Mr. Furry with her! Maybe she was finally back to her old self.

"Yeah, I'm tired too," said Kevin with a smile.

Katie yawned. "See you tomorrow," she said. Then she skipped on down to the basement.

Kevin stood alone in the room. He still had that feeling of uneasiness, even when Sandy came up and hugged his leg. Katie had acted all happy and carefree rather quickly. Suspiciously quickly. Whatever was wrong with Katie was still active. Sandy knew it too. The question was, when would her condition be solved?  
  


An hour later, as the Hendersons slept, Courage, Muriel, and Eustace enjoyed a late dinner. Courage was still a little shaken up over what had happened earlier today, and wasn't eating. In fact, Eustace and Muriel weren't eating either. 

"Nnnrgh," groaned Eustace. "I can't believe they cancelled my favorite TV show!"

Muriel ignored him. "I'm beginning to worry about that darling girl, Katie. Her parents think she's going through a phase, but I think she has a more serious condition." 

Courage agreed with her. But Courage felt that Katie's condition wasn't medical. There was a sort of.......supernatural feeling surrounding her. It seemed the most intense whenever she was carrying that stuffed animal. Courage whined. Whatever had happened in that San Francisco cemetery, it wasn't good. Courage had a bad feeling that something scary was going to happen. And soon.  
  


(Sorry this chapter took so long to post up. This month has been really busy for me.)  
  


(And Courage won't be disappointed. Part 1 of "A Dark and Scary Night" is up next.) 

  
  
  
  


  
  


  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


  
  



	9. A Dark and Scary Night Part 1

A Dark and Scary Night (Part 1 of 2)

  
  


Courage stood at one end of a pool table with a pool stick in his paw. He didn't know how he had arrived in the dimly lit pool hall or what he was supposed to be doing here. A single lightbulb hung down from the ceiling directly over the table. Courage nervously adjusted his visor as he looked across the table. A pack of five dogs stood at the other end. A poodle, a dachshund, a pit bull, a cocker spaniel, and a mutt. All five of them had visors and collars on their necks. The mutt also had a pool stick in his paw and was staring at Courage with white, pupil-less eyes. 

"Well?" he asked in a deep voice. "Aren't you gonna break 'em up?"

Courage looked on the table. A lone cue ball was positioned on his end of the table while the rest of the balls were laid out in a triangle at the other end. Courage also saw a bunch of boxes placed around the table so that all the dogs could be level with the table's surface.

Courage leaned over and was surprised that he knew how to hold the stick. He knocked the cue ball into the other balls, causing them to break way from each other. A striped ball fell into a pocket.

"Alright. You're striped and we're plain," said the mutt.

The game continued. Courage was amazed as to how well he was playing. He was already about to win, and he had never played pool before in his life! However, the mutt quickly caught up with him, and soon, all that was left was the cue ball and the 8-ball. After a few turns, the mutt finally sunk the 8-ball in a corner pocket.

"Oooh, too bad," said the mutt. Him and the other dogs crowded around Courage. "Good game, though. Now, how about you head on back now."

"Hmm?" questioned Courage. He looked around the pool hall. There didn't appear to be any exit.

The mutt brought out something from behind his back. It was an alarm clock. The time? A few seconds until 12.

"I hope we can play again real soon," said the mutt with a grin.

RIIIINNNGGGG!!!!!!!

Courage awoke with a cry of shock and confusion. On instinct, Courage reached out and slammed his paw on the alarm clock beside his cot to stop it from ringing. Courage caught his breath. He was in the attic. Courage glanced at the window, then to his computer, and then to the half-open door. "What a strange dream," Courage thought to himself.

Then he turned to his alarm clock and gasped. The moonlight from outside displayed the time on the clock: A few seconds after midnight!

Courage began shaking with fright. The dream had spooked Courage and the whole thing with the alarm clock was rather coincidental, but that's not what Courage was worried about. He was positive that he hadn't touched the alarm clock at all yesterday. So how had it been set for midnight instead of in the morning?

Courage tried to calm himself down. Maybe one of the Hendersons or Eustace fiddled with the alarm clock as a joke. But who?

  
  


In the basement, Kevin woke up. He needed to go to the bathroom, so he slowly got out of his sleeping bag. It was pitch black in the basement. Kevin pushed a button on his wristwatch, and a pale green light revealed Kevin's family and Sandy sleeping nearby. He noticed that Mr. Furry were nowhere in sight. "Probably in Katie's sleeping bag," thought Kevin, as he stepped around his family and made his way to the basement stairs. He tried to climb up the stairs without making a sound, but that was impossible. The stairs squeaked like crazy with every step he took. Halfway up the stairs, Kevin heard a loud 'CREAK' from under his foot and froze. It sounded like his family was still asleep so he continued. He eventually reached the door and stepped into the living room. Kevin turned and headed toward the stairs that led to the upstairs bathroom. 

Just before he reached these new stairs, Kevin thought he saw something move out of the corner of his eye. He jerked his head in that direction but saw nothing. The moonlight from outside must've been playing tricks on him. Kevin immediately dashed up the stairs, ran down the hall, and arrived at the bathroom door. Kevin was breathing heavily. 

"What am I getting so worked up for?" whispered Kevin. "There's nothing down there."

Half believing what he just said, Kevin walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

A moment later, Courage appeared at the other end of the hall. Courage had tried to go back to sleep, but his growling stomach kept waking him up. So, Courage decided to get a bite to eat in the kitchen. He walked down the hall and arrived at the top of the stairs. That's when he stopped. He heard something. It sounded like something metallic hitting the floor in the kitchen. Courage began shivering as he quickly descended the steps. The sounds were definitely coming from the kitchen. Now it sounded like food was being tossed onto the floor. Courage stopped at the bottom of the stairs and gasped. A light was coming from the kitchen! Courage tiptoed to the wall next to kitchen's entrance and peeked into the room.

Inside, the kitchen floor was a mess. Food, liquids, and containers were splattered all over the floorboards. The refrigerator door was open, which explained where the light was coming from. Courage's eyes widened as he heard something going on inside the fridge. The door was open towards Courage, so he couldn't see inside it, but Courage noticed that someone was just on the other side of the door. A small shadow was stretched out on the rectangle of light that stretched across the floor. Whoever this thing was, it was throwing the entire refrigerator's contents onto the floor!

"S-S-Sandy?" called out Courage in a weak voice.

There was a 'THUMP', like someone had just collapsed. Courage rushed over to the fridge to see if Sandy was alright. When he arrived in front of the fridge, Courage saw a figure laying on the ground staring up at the ceiling with dark eyes.

It was Mr. Furry.

Courage took a deep breath and was just about to scream for all he was worth, when he suddenly stopped. Amazingly, his fear had immediately been replaced with an overwhelming sense of curiosity! Courage let out a sigh, put his paws on his hips, and quirked an eyebrow.

"This can't be possible," thought Courage to himself. "There's no way..."

Courage walked slowly to the little teddy bear that nearly gave him a heart attack. He tried not to slip on the food as he approached Mr. Furry. Courage snatched up Mr. Furry and looked him in the eye. Courage actually felt embarrassed. One of the Hendersons probably did all this, but, then again, they all seemed too nice to do something like this. Then Courage convinced himself that Eustace must've set all this up. That made more sense. 

Courage looked at Mr. Furry with a smug look on his face. "You don't scare me," Courage whispered.

WHAM! It happened so fast, Courage didn't even know what happened. He yelped, and his paws flew to his nose, which was throbbing in pain. This caused him to drop Mr. Furry. Courage closed his eyes as the pain began to spread to his entire muzzle. He opened his eyes just in time to see a small figure dash around the corner and out of the kitchen. 

Courage massaged his injured nose as he realized that Mr. Furry was gone. Fortunately, the pain was drowning out his fear. Courage came to the conclusion that Mr. Furry must've punched him in the nose, and that meant that, somehow, he was alive!

Of course, Courage had no clue as to how that was possible, but right now he had more important things to worry about. Like where that bear had gone. Courage wanted to go after Mr. Furry, but first he decided to satisfy his starving hunger. So he began licking up some of the food that had been dumped on the floor. Afterwards, Courage walked into the living room. The moonlight that had leaked in through the windows had vanished. Courage wondered where the moon had gone, when suddenly, a bolt of lightning illuminated the entire room! Courage just had enough time to see a tall, dark figure standing at the top of the stairs before all became black again. The boom of thunder wasn't loud enough to envelope Courage's scream of fright.

"Courage!" shouted Kevin, who ran down the stairs and held Courage in his arms. "Courage, it's just me."

Courage held onto Kevin's pajama shirt with all his might. He began blabbering out a mix of syllables and sobs as he took a step back.

"What? What is it?" asked Kevin with concern.

"Th-the b-b-bear..." gasped Courage, who quickly began hyperventilating.

"Courage! Courage, calm down," said Kevin. Courage began breathing normally again. "Now tell me what happened."

Courage looked at Kevin with shock. "The bear, that Katie has..."

"Mr. Furry?" asked Kevin.

"Yes. He...he's..."

  
  


"...alive," said a small voice to the side.

Kevin and Courage jerked their heads in the direction of the voice. At that moment, another bolt of lightning gave a brief look at the small furry creature who had just spoken. Courage and Kevin screamed in unison.

It was Sandy. She was standing in front of the open basement door. The reason Kevin and Courage screamed was because of the look of absolute fear on Sandy's face. She was also shaking from tip to tail.

The thunder startled Sandy, and she ran to Kevin. A single beam of moonlight peaked out from behind a cloud, revealing Kevin sitting in the middle of the living room hugging the two dogs.

Sandy was still shaking when Kevin started to calm her down. "What happened?" he asked.

Sandy stopped shivering, but still appeared frightened. "I saw him. I s-saw Mr. Furry move!"

"How?" asked Kevin. Courage whined slightly as he listened.

"I...I heard a shout from upstairs. It sounded like it came from Courage, but I wasn't sure."

"It was," said Courage, rubbing his nose. The pain was beginning to subside.

"Well," continued Sandy. "I thought about going up to investigate, but then I heard someone running down the basement stairs. Since dogs see much better in the dark than humans, I could see that it wasn't Courage, as I had previously thought. As he came closer, I saw it was....Mr. Furry!" (Lightning and thunder) "I froze right then and I saw him dive into Katie's sleeping bag, where he suddenly stopped moving. It...it was one of the scariest things I've ever seen."

Sandy started crying, but luckily she had Kevin and Courage to comfort her. 

After a moment, Courage said, "How did this happen?"

Sandy turned her teary-eyed face to Kevin. Kevin looked at Courage. Courage looked at Sandy. All three of them said it at the same time.

"The cemetery." (Lightning and thunder again).

"Of course," mumbled Kevin. "It all makes sense. When we left Katie and that bear at the tombstone, some kind of...spirit or something must've inhabited Mr. Furry's 'body'. That must be why Katie keeps talking to Mr. Furry. She's actually talking to that spirit!"

"Wait, spirit? You mean like Reginald and Joseph?" asked Courage.

"No," whispered Kevin. "We're dealing with something far more dangerous; something more.....evil."

Courage gasped.

"E-evil?" asked Sandy. She began quivering again.

"Of course," said Kevin. He looked at Courage's swollen nose. "Did Mr. Furry do that?"

Courage nodded.

"Well that clinches it. His aggressive personality. His mischievous behavior. We are definitely not dealing with a friendly ghost like Reginald or Joseph. He has totally changed Katie's behavior too. She rarely talks or acts the way she used to anymore."

"But...but if Katie can talk to the bear...or spirit...or whatever..." began Sandy. "...how come we can't hear it?"

"I don't know," answered Kevin. "But my best bet is that the spirit is probably communicating with Katie telepathically. We can hear her, but we can't hear it."

Sandy wrapped her arms around Courage. "We need to get rid of it," she said as Courage comforted her.

"But how?" asked Kevin. No one answered.

"All I know is that I'm going back down there," said Sandy who pointed to the basement.

Kevin sighed. "OK. Courage, you'll be safe upstairs with Eustace and Muriel. Sandy and I will sleep down here on the couch."

"Do you think our family will be safe down there with that....thing?" asked Sandy.

"It hasn't hurt them so far. And I don't think it'll start by revealing himself now."

"Yeah, you'll be okay. Don't worry," said Courage. "I'll see you in the morning." With that, Courage gave Sandy a quick kiss before turning around and running up the stairs.

Kevin had already collapsed on the couch, so Sandy jumped up and lay down by Kevin's feet. Rain was beginning to fall outside, so it eventually lulled everyone to sleep. But not before Kevin, Courage, and Sandy stayed awake worrying what would happen when morning would come.

  
  


(If you're wondering about those dogs at the beginning of the chapter, they're just original characters created by myself. I hope to put them in my own comic series, or something, in the far off future.)

  
  


(And the night's not over yet. Coming up in Part 2 of "A Dark and Scary Night", it's the agents' turn to get scared!)

  
  



	10. A Dark and Scary Night Part 2

A Dark and Scary Night (Part 2 of 2)

  
  


Behind the front desk of the Katz Motel, Katz looked at his watch. A single flourescent light above his head displayed the time on the watch: one minute to midnight. He lay the watch on the desk and pulled out a walkie-talkie from behind his back. He set the device on the first channel and pushed the 'talk' button.

"Come in, Ma. Come in."

In a room next to the basement, Eustace's mother sat in a desk chair. Before her sat a control panel that controlled all the electrical devices in the motel.

"I'm here, Katz," she answered.

"Are you ready to begin Phase One of our plan to get rid of the agents?"

"Affirmative."

"Excellent. Proceed on my command. Over." Katz then switched the walkie-talkie to channel two. "Come in Group One. Over."

"Yeah, we're here. Over," said Doc Gerbil. Him and Cajun Fox were sitting at one end of a hallway near the snack bar with a large machine between them.

"Good," said Katz. "After Phase One is complete, you two will proceed with Phase Two on my command. Understood?"

"Yep!" said Cajun Fox. "Read ya loud and clear."

Katz sighed and switched the receiver to channel three. "Come in Group Two. Over. Are you there?"

"Yeah, we're here," grumbled Mad Dog. He was crammed into a small, dark room with Foot Fungus. A large, two-way mirror made up one wall of the room. On the other side was a motel bathroom...specifically, the bathroom that was connected to Barsby and Gammon's room!

"Now then," continued Katz. "You two will commence with Phase Three on my signal, alright?"

"Whatever you say, boss. Nyah," said Foot Fungus. Mad Dog groaned. He wished he could dump some foot powder on his partner because the stench was beginning to get to him.

Katz then tuned the walkie-talkie to the last channel. "Come in Group Three. Over."

The voices of Le Quack, Queen of the Black Puddle, and growls of the Weremole could be heard on the other side. "Uh, yes, over!" shouted Le Quack quickly.

"Please pay attention," declared Katz. "Now, are you all listening?" 

"Yes, we're listening," said the Queen.

"Very well. You three are going to proceed with Phase Four of our plan upon my command, okay?"

"Ten-four," said Le Quack as the Weremole growled with agreement.

Katz finally pressed a large button on the side of the talkie. "Attention all units. The plan, once again, is only meant to SCARE the agents. I don't want anyone causing bodily harm to these agents. The sooner they are gone, the better. Understood?"

A mass of voices agreed.

"Excellent," said Katz as he observed his watch. Midnight at last.

Katz turned his attention to a security camera's TV screen. It showed one of his many spiders standing in front of a pipe. It's orange eyes looked up at the camera as Katz spoke into a microphone. "OK, you. You know what to do." Upon hearing the sentence, the orange-eyed spider crawled into the pipe.

Katz then turned around and tuned the walkie-talkie back to channel one. "Okay, Ma. Showtime."

Ma laughed evilly as she pulled two large switches on the control panel. This caused all the televisions in the motel to turn on with the volume turned way up. 

The wake-up call worked. All four agents sat up in bed and covered their ears.

Darkest Moon watched Agent R as he got up to switch the TV off. In the next room, Gammon screamed at Barsby to turn the TV off. But before anyone could press the off buttons, all the TVs turned off by themselves.

"Jonathan, what was that?" D.M. asked Agent R, as she wiped her eyes.

"I don't know. Must be a malfunction or something 'cause the remote's over there." He pointed to where the remote was sitting on top of the drawers.

In the next room, Gammon and Barsby kept accusing each other of turning on the TV with the remote. When they finally realized that neither of them turned on the TV, they began debating how the TV turned itself on.

"Ghosts?" asked Barsby.

"Yeah, or electrical problems. One or the other," answered Gammon sarcastically.

Barsby sighed. "Well, I'm going back to bed." He got back under the covers.

Gammon began putting his shoes on. "I'm hungry. I'm gonna get a snack." He started searching his pockets for change.

Back in the other room, Agents D.M. and R tried going back to sleep, but couldn't.

"Hey!" cried D.M., who bolted up in bed and looked around. "Where's our stuff?"

"Don't you remember?" asked Agent R.

"Oh yeah!" D.M. suddenly remembered that right after they came back to the motel, they decided to put all their stuff in the RV, including her camera. "Hey, Jonathan?" she asked.

"What?" asked Agent R. It was clear he wasn't going back to sleep anytime soon.

"Do you think we'll see that pink dog soon?"

"I'm still trying to figure out if that dog's good or bad. We've had different responses from folks around here, right?"

D.M. nodded. She yawned. "Well, I think I'll go take a shower now. There's not much else to do anyway." With that, she entered the bathroom and closed the door.

Agent R suddenly realized he had to go to the bathroom too. But he didn't want to bother D.M. at the moment, so he decide to use the downstairs public restroom.

Gammon and Jonathan exited their rooms at the same time. They walked side by side down the walkway.

"So, where are you headed?" Jonathan asked Gammon.

"Snack bar. You?"

"Bathroom. D.M.'s taking a shower."

"How's everything between you and her?" 

"What do you mean by that?" asked Agent R, who was sightly annoyed by the question.

"Hey, I'm just curious, that's all."

"We're fine. How are things with you and Barsby?"

"Better. I guess."

"Glad to hear it. You know, I heard the most interesting piece of information in the Weekly World Enquirer yesterday...."

Meanwhile, D.M. turned on the shower. As the water sprayed out of the showerhead, D.M. looked herself in the mirror. She wondered if there was any toiletries in the cupboards underneath the sink. So she opened the cupboards and was looking around when suddenly the sound of water coming out of the shower stopped!

"Great," said D.M. This stupid town didn't even have a decent water supply.

But what was this? Now she heard little tapping sounds coming from inside the shower! D.M. peeked over the cupboard door and gasped.

Eight skinny legs were wiggling out of the showerhead! Just then, the whole thing popped open, revealing a beach ball-sized spider with glowing orange eyes being showered upon with water. Those eyes turned toward a terrified D.M. and the spider opened its jagged mouth.

D.M. screamed as she raced out of the bathroom and locked the door behind her. The spider was scraping its legs against the door trying to get to her.

D.M. always had a feeling that something creepy would happen to her during the night, so she ran to the bed and brought out from under it the one thing she didn't put in the RV: a shiny metal baseball bat. The childhood gift was one of the first things D.M. brought with her on the assignment.

As she walked back to the bathroom, she suddenly realized she was only wearing a bathroom towel! Her clothes were still inside the bathroom with the spider! Since the rest of her clothes were in the RV, she would have to get rid of the spider before getting her clothes.

Taking a deep breath, she unlocked the door, said a quick prayer, and kicked in the door.

"Aaaaaaaa!!!" she yelled as she swung the bat at the spider again and again and again until it was nothing but a splatter of goo.

Afterwards, D.M. spotted her clothes on the floor. They had some spider guts on it, but D.M. didn't mind. She washed some of the gunk off and walked into the bedroom. She locked the door (just in case Agent R came back) and started getting dressed.

Downstairs, Agent Gammon walked off when Agent Jonathan R entered the restroom. Gammon spotted the snack bar halfway down a long, dark hallway. As he walked towards it, he quickly glanced at the security camera. Katz had him on a TV screen. He turned on his talkie. "Commence Phase Two of the plan now," Katz ordered.

Gammon had now reached the snack bar, which consisted of several snack and soda concession stands. He reached into his pocket and put the correct amount of money in the machine. Gammon chose a bag of chips and, as luck would have it, the bag got stuck in the machine. Fortunately, being a secret agent has its upsides. Gammon quickly took out a weird device from his pocket and placed it up against a lock in front of the snack machine. It was designed to unlock any lock on any door. Ten seconds later, Gammon opened the glass door of the machine, grabbed the chips and locked it back up.

Smiling, Gammon was just about to open the bag when he suddenly saw a light out of the corner of his eye. It looked like a lighter flame way down at the other end of the hallway. Gammon put the bag in his suit pocket and took a couple steps toward the light. Instantly, Gammon saw two figures standing on either side of the flame. One of them was Doc Gerbil, whom Gammon had interviewed earlier. The other was a fox-like creature with dark sunglasses.

"Hi there," said Doc. He reached over and pressed a button on the machine between him and Cajun Fox.

Suddenly, a huge flame explosion raced towards Gammon at light speed. He just had enough time to duck behind the snack machine before the flames raced past. Gammon concluded that those two villains were carrying a giant flamethrower! Without hesitation, he sprinted down the hall towards the restrooms.

"Oooh, I wish I could make a stew out of you!" said the Fox as he fired the flamethrower again. Gammon dove off to the side in the nick of time. 

As soon as the flames stopped, Agent R walked out of the restroom. He was startled by what he saw: Gammon on the ground, smoke in the air, and scorched marks on that hallway. Didn't this place have any sprinkler systems?

Agent R ran over to Gammon. "Are you okay?"

"Okay??!! I was nearly fried!"

"Well that clinches it," said Agent R. "I think it's time we had another talk with our 'friend' Katz. You coming?"

"Gladly," answered Gammon. The two agents started walking towards the lobby.

At that moment, Agent Barsby entered the bathroom in his motel room. He'd been trying to get back to sleep, but he thought he kept hearing D.M. screaming and explosions from downstairs. He got up when he decided to go to the bathroom. As he stepped into the bathroom, he wondered what was taking Gammon so long.

Mad Dog and Foot Fungus looked away as Barsby did his business. Afterwards, Barsby began washing his hands.

"Nyah. I'll bet that guy is gonna get a real 'kick' out of us!" laughed Foot Fungus.

"Where is that stupid cat?" mumbled Mad Dog. This agent was just inches away on the other side of the two-way mirror. Why didn't Katz start Phase Three yet?

Barsby looked around for a towel to wash his hands and saw one at his feet. It was at that moment that Katz initiated Phase Three. As Barsby bent down to pick up the towel, Mad Dog and Foot Fungus leaped through the mirror, sending shards of glass flying in all directions. However, the two villains misjudged how close the opposite wall was to them, and they crashed headfirst into it.

Barsby didn't know what was going on. All he heard was a loud crash, saw glass flying everywhere, and felt two bodies fall around him. Without thinking, Barsby ran out of the bathroom and slammed the door behind him. He then ran out of his room, closed the door, and ran straight into D.M. on the balcony overlooking the parking lot.

"Barsby!" cried the fully-clothed D.M. "What's wrong?" 

Her answer was a crash of wood behind Barsby. Mad Dog and Foot Fungus emerged onto the hallway just as a bolt of lightning illuminated the surroundings. Muffled by the thunder, Barsby screamed as D.M., in a moment of fearful courage, swung the bat at Mad Dog's face, missing it by inches. Mad Dog was so surprised, that he stumbled backwards over the Foot Fungus and landed on his back.

"I TOLD you there was a big foot here!" yelled D.M. as she started hitting each toe of the Foot with her bat. It reminded her of that arcade game where you whack the gophers' heads with a big mallet.

"C'mon!" shouted Barsby, who noticed Mad Dog rubbing his head and growling. "Let's get to the lobby. Maybe Katz knows how to get rid of these guys!"

Seeing as how Katz was probably one of them, D.M. didn't see much sense in that plan. But with one villain down and one on the rebound, she knew that they had to get out of there fast. They turned and were about to dash down the hall, when they were stopped by a small lady with a red wig and a VERY large machete.

"Where do you think you two are going?" asked Eustace's Ma.

The two agents were trapped! And the dog and little old lady were closing fast! There was only one way out.

"Hang on!" shouted Barsby. He grabbed D.M.'s hand, leaped over the railing, and fell twelve feet onto the hood of a car. Both agents were unhurt.

"Let's go," said Ma. Her, Mad Dog, and Foot Fungus (now with several lumps on his toes) raced down the upstairs walkway.

"Are you okay?" asked Barsby.

"Yeah, I'm fine." D.M. noticed that she was still holding her bat in the other hand.

"You've got quite a swing," said Barsby.

D.M. smiled, but a clap of thunder brought them back to their senses.

"Look!" shouted Barsby, who pointed to the motel entrance. "There's where Katz is! C'mon. I wanna see you knock some sense into him."

"Or out of him," said D.M. Both agents dashed towards the entrance.

  
  


"Katz!" shouted Agent R. Him and Gammon busted into the lobby. 

Katz whirled his walkie-talkie behind his back. "Enjoying your stay?"

"Like heck I am!" shouted Gammon. (Which was the cleanest thing to say under the circumstances.)

"What's going on here?" demanded Agent R.

Katz whipped his walkie-talkie up to his ear. "Initiate Phase Four! Now!"

"Hey!" shouted the two agents as they rushed towards Katz.

Suddenly, accompanied by a bolt of lightning outside, the floor boards between Katz and the agents exploded! Up popped Le Quack, the Weremole, and the Queen (who was now in her monster form.) They began roaring, shrieking, and quacking like crazy. Gammon and Agent R were more than a little frightened by this and stumbled back in terror.

Just then, before the villains could advance, the front doors flew open. Barsby and D.M. stood dumbfounded at the scene before them. Barsby was shocked upon seeing the Queen in her true form. Just like the picture on the table when he interviewed her! D.M., on the other hand, let out a high-pitched Sailor Moon cry as she ran into the room, baseball bat swinging. The other agents immediately began fighting back as well. That is, until Mad Dog, Foot, and Ma arrived. Mad Dog grabbed the bat out of D.M.'s hand by surprise.

"Let's see how you like this!" said Mad Dog as he raised the bat above his head.

D.M. screamed, but Agent R suddenly tackled D.M. just as the bat came down. It smashed into the floor boards instead of into D.M. and Jonathan.

"No, you fools! Don't harm them!" bellowed Katz.

The Weremole, who was just about to bite Gammon's leg (and therefore turn him into a weremole) stopped and grumbled to himself.

"The RV!!!" shouted Barsby, as he flung Le Quack across the lobby. "Head for the RV!!"

The four agents quickly ran out the door with all the villains close behind. As they dashed across the parking lot, another lightning bolt streaked across the sky. Agent R turned around and saw a small army of large spiders chasing after them. 

"Keep running!!!" he screamed.

The thunder was joined by a downpour of rain. Katz, who was in the lead, saw the rain and stopped in his tracks underneath the shelter. The other villains followed his example.

Soaking wet, the agents ran into their RV. Agent R started the engine and zoomed out of the parking lot, leaving the spiders behind. 

D.M. dashed to the rear of the RV and looked out the back window. Through the rain, she saw the villains celebrating over the success of their mission. She caught sight of Mad Dog holding her bat over his head in victory. 

D.M. gritted her teeth. "I'm gonna get that bat back," she whispered to her self.

"You know what?" announced Katz. "This calls for a celebration!"

"A party! When's it gonna be?" asked Cajun Fox.

"Well, we don't have anymore annoying tenants to put up with. Let's take our time, shall we?"

"But what if those gov'ment guys come back?" asked Doc Gerbil.

"Oh I don't think that's gonna happen," said Mad Dog, holding the bat in his paws and smiling evilly.

  
  


The RV raced through the streets of Nowhere in the pouring rain.

"Where are we going?!" shouted D.M. from the rear.

"Anywhere!" answered Agent R at the wheel.

The vehicle disregarded any traffic signals as it cruised full speed through the town. It knocked over carts and side-scraped numerous cars.

"So who's driving badly now?" asked Gammon.

"Yeah," added Barsby.

"Stuff it, guys," ordered Jonathan, who suddenly braked hard. Gammon and Barsby flew into the windshield. Jonathan punched the gas pedal again, as his buddies flew onto the ground next to where D.M. was sitting.

"I was just kidding!" yelled Gammon, rubbing his nose.

After a short while, Agent R noticed that the buildings were becoming scarce. They must be leaving town! Quickly, Agent R drove off the road and stopped the RV. The rain pelted the vehicle as the engine was turned off.

"We'll have to sleep here tonight," said Agent R.

Barsby looked out one of the windows. "Look! There's a house over there! Why don't we...?"

"Hey, I'm not going anywhere until this rain lets up," interrupted Gammon.

"He's right," said Agent R. "Let's just stay here for the night. Tomorrow, we can, I dunno, get D.M.'s pictures processed."

D.M. smiled as she shakily got into bed. The other agents quickly entered their beds, but it would be quite a while before they would finally fall asleep.

And one other thing...they were only 100 feet away from a certain rickety, old farmhouse on the outskirts of Nowhere... 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	11. The 'Pink Dog' Mystery: Solved

"The 'Pink Dog' Mystery: Solved"

  
  


It was a few hours before morning finally arrived. The thunderstorm had come and gone. A cold front had decreased the temperature, but not by much. A slight gale caused the blades of the windmill to squeak and moan in the wind.

Inside the house, Kevin and Sandy were awakened by a thump coming from the basement. Both of them sat up straight on the couch with their eyes wide open, but it was only Kevin's dad clumsily walking up the stairs. 

"Morning, son. Morning, Andy," Carl yawned.

"It's Sandy," corrected Kevin. As you can see, Carl's mind is very foggy before his cup of coffee. 

"Where you going, Dad?" asked Kevin.

"Oh, I'm just going to fix some breakfast. We should surprise that nice old couple with a good old-fashioned Hendersons breakfast for a change. Want to help?" 

Kevin got up to follow his father, but he stopped when Carl asked him, "Did you sleep well, son?"

Kevin glanced over his shoulder at Sandy, who was still on the couch. She motioned for Kevin not to say anything. Kevin smirked, as if to say, "Well, duh!"

"Yeah, Dad, I...uh...slept okay." With that, Kevin and Sandy entered the kitchen as Carl began getting out a bunch of kitchen utensils. 

By the time the rest of the Hendersons arrived in the kitchen, all the equipment had been put out and the food was ready to be prepared. Of course, Kevin and Sandy were rather nervous when Katie and Mr. Furry entered the room, but they said nothing and tried to keep their minds on making breakfast.

"Honey?" asked Diane to her husband. "Do you know where Muriel keeps the egg beater?"

Meanwhile, upstairs, Courage yawned. Behind him, Muriel and Eustace were just about to wake up. Courage briefly shivered upon remembering the events of last night. He thought about going downstairs to see if Kevin and Sandy were alright, but a queer feeling inside Courage caused him to turn towards the window. Courage hopped to the floor and traveled over to the window. Courage was definitely surprised by what he saw.

From the second story of the house, you could see for miles into the distance. You never could see much of anything else, but on this morning, Courage saw something new. Something that stuck out of the surroundings like a sore thumb.

It was a recreational vehicle...one of those camper vans that charge down interstates with the power of a semi truck. Judging from the tire tracks, this RV had driven off the road and parked about a football-field's length away from the house.

Courage gulped. He remembered the LAST time a camper van was parked on the property. It had belonged to an old Hispanic woman who assumed Muriel's identity in order to rob a bank for her husband's operation (who was just a hand). Courage could remember the resulting high-speed road chase as if it happened yesterday. 

"Oh look!" exclaimed Muriel, who came up behind Courage. "More visitors! Our place must be more popular than I thought."

"Terrific," muttered Eustace. "We might as well put up a 'Hotel' sign on the roof!" He grumbled all the way to the bathroom.

"Well, the more the merrier. I...mmm, Courage, what is that delicious smell?"

Courage sniffed the air. His stomach rumbled as his nose detected the aromas of eggs and pancake batter coming from downstairs.

"Oh my! Smells like the Hendersons already have breakfast underway!" Muriel knocked on the bathroom door. "Hurry up, Eustace!"

"Hold yer horses, I'm almost done!" he shouted.

Courage ran back to the window, hoping the RV had disappeared. To his dismay, it was still there.

Inside the RV, the agents were waking up. One by one, the agents went to the lavatory to change out of their slept-in agent clothes and into their tourist clothes (Hawaiian shirts, shorts, etc.) 

"Ugh," moaned Agent Barsby, who rubbed his rear. It was still sore from when he landed on the car at the motel. "That was definitely NOT one of our better nights."

The other agents agreed. "What now?" asked Agent Darkest Moon.

"Well," thought Agent R, "Let's recap. We arrived in Nowhere at the Katz Motel, interviewed the tenants, interviewed the townspeople, got scared out by the tenants, and arrived here. We've learned that the motel is infested with suspicious characters, the town is infested with suspicious characters, and our common curiosity is all that's keeping us from going insane."

Agent Gammon noticed Barsby and D.M. looking at him oddly. Knowing what they were thinking, Gammon quickly said, "Hey, I'm no more insane than the rest of you!"

"Right," muttered D.M.

Barsby changed the subject. "And let's not forget about that pink dog."

"Ah yes, I almost forgot. This 'pink dog' could possibly be the link between all these citizens of Nowhere. D.M., you've got to take photos of this dog the moment you see him, okay?"

"Right-o, Agent R," answered D.M.

"Um, R?" interrupted Barsby. "Have you figured out whether this dog is good or evil yet?"

"Well, only the motel tenants said the dog was evil, right? So, since we all know that those characters were definitely evil, the pink dog MUST be good or else he would've been there at the motel with the tenants!"

"But what about the old lady and old man it lives with?" questioned Gammon.

"Oh, I'm sure we're going to find out eventually," said Agent R. "But first thing's first. D.M., I want you to develop those photos while the rest of us get breakfast."

D.M. quirked an eyebrow. "Hey!" 

"Just kidding. You can come along too, D.M." Agent R turned and exited the RV.

Gammon and Barsby looked at each other in shock. That was the first time they had ever seen Agent R express a sign of humor! The three remaining agents left the RV.

"So...where do we go now?" asked D.M. The four agents stood next to the RV, looking down the road from which they came.

Agent R walked around to the other side of the vehicle. "Hey, guys! Let's see if anyone lives there!"

The three other agents came up behind Agent R and saw what he was looking at. Not too far away was a farmhouse. A windmill stood next to it, and two vehicles were parked out front...a pickup truck and a station wagon.

"C'mon, I'm starved!" shouted D.M., but Agent R stopped her. 

"Hold it, D.M. Don't forget we're tourists here, not agents, alright? We must remain undercover unless absolutely necessary. Does everyone understand?"

Gammon, Barsby, and D.M. agreed.

"Good. Let's go get some breakfast!"

As the agents walked toward the house, Eustace, Muriel, and Courage were greeted with a grand breakfast, courtesy of the Hendersons. Plates stacked with muffins, eggs, bacon, sausages, and a stack of pancakes dripping with butter and syrup. There was a huge jug of orange juice and another filled with milk. It was a good thing Muriel had stored all the food and drinks in the storage closets for just such and occasion.

"Oh my!" exclaimed Muriel. "This is one of the most lovely breakfasts I've ever seen!"

Courage agreed. His mouth watered as he observed the plates of food. He looked at each member of the Henderson family and marveled at their act of kindness. Of course, a chill went up Courage's back when he saw Katie and Mr. Furry, but he calmed down when Sandy brought him a dog bowl filled with breakfast food.

"Thank you so much!" said Muriel to the Hendersons. "You really shouldn't have."

"You're welcome, and it was the least we could do to thank you for your hospitality," said Diane Henderson.

"Enough with the talking!" shouted Eustace rudely. "Let's eat!"

With that, everyone went to take a plate and walked up to the food.

"Courage?" asked Muriel. "Why don't you and Sandy get cleaned up before eating?"

So, Courage and Sandy turned and left the room. Both of them walked into the backyard towards the water pump. However, Sandy suddenly said, "Hey, Courage, maybe it would be a better idea if you got cleaned up in the bathroom."

Courage grinned sheepishly, remembering the last time he saw Sandy at the water pump. "But, someone has to work the pump," he said in defense.

Sandy looked at Courage with a half-smile on her face. "Well, alright. Promise you'll look away while I clean up?"

"Promise," said Courage...with his fingers tied behind his back. 

Back at the house, the Hendersons had all sat down at the table. Eustace and Muriel were just about to sit down as well, but suddenly, just at that moment, the doorbell rang!

"Who could that be?" asked Muriel to herself. She went to open the door and was greeted with a strange sight.

Before her stood four people. One was a young girl wearing sandals, shorts, a tie-dye T-shirt, and a Sailor Moon wristwatch. Next to her stood a tall man wearing an identical outfit, except he wore a wristwatch with a British flag on it. Nearby, another man wore a Hawaiian T-shirt and shorts. A spiky-haired hedgehog was inked on each of his Nikes. In the middle, stood a man with Reeboks, shorts and a loud, striped shirt. All four of them wore their trademark sunglasses. The one in the middle, Agent R, spoke first.

"Good morning, madam. Would it be too much trouble if we could have some breakfast on this fine day?" Agent R grinned. His fellow agents all tried to keep a straight face.

"Why, of course!" said kind-hearted Muriel. "I'm sure we have plenty of food for everyone."

"Oh, you already have guests? Well, I'm sorry if we..."

"Oh no, no! Please come in!" Muriel stepped back. The visitors sat down in the living room as Muriel went back into the kitchen. 

"Guess what, everyone!" she announced. "We have a few more visitors here. Would anyone mind if they stay for breakfast?"

"Fine by us," said Carl. "We have more than enough food for everyone, I'm sure." The other members of the Henderson family agreed.

At that moment, Agent R leaned back in his chair and peeked into the kitchen. Kevin Henderson caught sight of Agent R, who quickly returned to his seat. Kevin had a feeling he had seen that person before.

"Guys?" muttered Agent R. "Guess who's eating breakfast in the kitchen."

D.M. gasped. "Not the motel tenants!"

"No," said Agent R. "It's the family that we interviewed at the museum yesterday!"

"The Fredricksons?" asked Gammon with amazement.

"No, that wasn't it." Agent R reached into his shorts pocket and took out a small notebook. "They are the Hendersons. Carl, Diane, Kevin, and Katie." Agent R slapped his forehead. "Great. We already told them our names and that we're government officials."

"Brilliant," mumbled Gammon. "Why bother wearing these outfits?" He glanced down at his tourist clothes.

"I guess some apologies are in order." As Agent R stood up, an idea came to mind. "And we could say that we've finished our investigation and are heading home, so as not to arouse suspicion. Then, we'll say we had some car trouble and we stopped here to get something to eat!"

"Yeah! That could work," replied Barsby.

Muriel's head poked into the living room. "You visitors can come in now if you want."

"Let's go," said Agent R. The four agents walked to the kitchen.

"Muriel!" shouted Eustace. "Who's in the living room?"

Before, Muriel could answer, the agents entered the kitchen. At first, the Hendersons didn't know what to make of them, with their loud outfits and their wandering eyes. Then Kevin recognized who they were.

"Hey! Aren't you guys the government people who interviewed us at the museum yesterday?" 

Agent R acted shocked. "Why, yes! Yes, we are! What a coincidence to meet up with you again." Carl was going to say something, but Agent R kept talking. "And let me start off by saying that we're sorry we were so intrusive yesterday. We didn't know you were only visitors of Nowhere. We were just doing our job."

"That's perfectly alright," said Diane. "But in the future, make sure you know if the people you're interviewing are visitors or not first."

Agent R smiled. "Absolutely, um, Diane, right?"

Diane turned to Carl. "He has a good memory, doesn't he, Carl?"

"I'm sure they all do, dear," said Carl. He still hadn't gotten his coffee.

Agent R was about to say something to his partners, but they were too busy staring at all the breakfast food. "Can we eat now?" whispered Barsby.

"Help yourselves," said Muriel, overhearing.

As the agents filled their plates with food, an extra table was brought into the kitchen for the agents to sit at.

As he took his first bite, Gammon had a funny feeling about this place. It wasn't until he took a good look at Eustace and Muriel that something clicked. He leaned over to Agent R. "Hey, um, remember what you said about the pink dog living with an old man and an old woman?"

Agent R immediately glanced at Eustace and Muriel. He stopped eating. "Then...that means..."

The back door opened up behind the table. As the agents turned in their seats, Muriel said, "There you are, Courage. You're missing breakfast!"

Agent R couldn't believe it. "The pink dog," he whispered to himself.

Courage stood in the doorway looking at everyone. His fur was all wet, because Sandy had washed Courage with the water pump shortly after Courage washed Sandy. He had tried shaking himself dry, but water still clung to his fur. Sandy told Courage to head to the house before her, since she wanted to look at the sunrise some more.

The moment Courage saw the new visitors, he began to feel uneasy. For one thing, those Hawaiian outfits made them look out of place, like they were trying too hard to be tourists or something. More importantly, the four visitors sat as still as statues...and they were looking right at Courage. D.M. was the only one who had taken her sunglasses off. Her eyes were wide with amazement, and Courage guessed that her friends also had the same expressions behind their shades.

"This is our dog, Courage," said Muriel. "Say hello, Courage,"

Courage waved at them, shakily. Agent R leaned towards D.M. "Take some pictures," he whispered. Immediately, D.M. brought out her camera and snapped some photos of Courage as if he was a Hollywood actor. 

Courage began wondering what to do next, when suddenly, D.M. stopped. The camera fell from her hands (it's on a strap), and her mouth opened wide. At the same time, Sandy, with her fur still wet, came up behind Courage and caught sight of the agents.

"Oh, that's our dog, Sandy," said Kevin.

Now the agents were REALLY feeling nervous. Two pink dogs? Agent R began glancing around the room as if he expected pink dogs to appear all over the place. He turned to Muriel. "Uh, where's the bathroom?"

"Upstairs, by the..."

"Thank you," Agent R said quickly. He and his fellow agents abruptly got up from their chairs and raced up the stairs.

"Who were they?" asked Courage.

"Kevin told me they were 'secret agent' people, but they sure don't act like secret agents."

"That's where they fool you," whispered Kevin under the table. "They say their done with their investigation, but us three are the only ones who know better. And, more importantly, we need to stop them from investigating Katie. Who knows what would happen if they discover her bear is possessed?"

The two dogs nodded with worry. Kevin's expression changed as he said, "Why are you two so wet?"

Courage answered, "We were just getting cleaned up out by the water pump."

Kevin quirked an eyebrow. Sandy rolled her eyes and said, "Nothing happened." She softly hit Kevin in the leg and returned to her food bowl. Courage put his paws on his hips and quirked an eyebrow at Kevin. "My bad," said Kevin and continued eating breakfast. Courage just sighed and went to his food bowl.

In the bathroom, the agents were trying to stay calm. "What now??!!" blurted D.M.

"Okay, okay, everyone calm down," announced Agent R. He rubbed his aching head with his hand. "It's obvious we've arrived at the right place, correct?"

"Obviously," answered D.M.

"Absolutely," replied Barsby.

"I wonder why those two dogs were so wet," mumbled Gammon, his mind wandering.

Agent R took off his sunglasses and gave Gammon a weird look. "Gammon, try to keep your twisted mind on the subject at hand." He turned to Barsby and D.M. "Now listen up. I think it's best if we stay in the RV for the remainder of the visit. It appears to be a full house here anyway."

"Good idea," said Barsby.

"Plus, D.M. needs to develop those pictures once she's finished with her roll...or at least, once she gets her bat back."

"Yeah," said D.M. She had forgotten about that. 

"Alright, men...and D.M.," announced Agent R. "Those sound like good ideas, but if we don't get anything to eat soon, we're not gonna be able to carry them out!"

So that's how breakfast went. The agents, the Hendersons, Eustace, Muriel, and Courage all sat at the table. The agents introduced themselves to Muriel and Eustace, but they didn't say much else. Even though everyone thought the breakfast was delicious, they couldn't help glancing at everyone else and wondering if something else was going on that they didn't know about.

Needless to say, the amount of trust in the room was at an all-time low.

  
  


(Can Kevin, Sandy, and Courage protect Katie from the nosy agents? How can they if they don't know all the details about the ghostly possession? And will D.M. get those photos developed?...or, more importantly, will she get her bat back? The answers coming soon...)

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	12. Kevin's Talk With Katie

"Kevin's Talk with Katie"

After breakfast, the agents used the restroom and returned to their RV.  Once inside, Agent R told D.M. and Gammon to head into the town of Nowhere and get the photos developed.  As D.M. went to retrieve the film, Gammon whined, "But what if we meet up with those creepy motel guys again?"

Agent R laughed.  "I doubt they'd be in town at all, but if you do, make sure you act like a tourist and deny everything, okay?"

Gammon didn't think that was a very bright idea, but he agreed anyway.  D.M. came back carrying two rolls of film.  Barsby looked at Agent R and said, "What are you and I gonna do in the meantime?"

Agent R looked Barsby in the eye and said seriously, "You and I are gonna see if we can contact our Boss and give him an update."

"Hey, Jonathan?" asked D.M. to Agent R.

Before Agent R could respond, Gammon blurted out to D.M., "Do you think it's wise to use his first name like that?"

"It's okay, she has my permission.  Whether you and Barsby refer to me as 'Jonathan' or not is up to you.  Now, what was your question, D.M.?"

"How are Gammon and I gonna get to town?"

Agent R knew the RV had to stay here on the property.  That left the Henderson's station wagon and Eustace's truck.  Agent R told D.M. and Gammon to ask the old couple inside if they could drive them to town.  Then, they could let Eustace and Muriel decide which vehicle to use.

Muriel wanted Eustace to drive the two agents to town in the truck.  Eustace put up a fit, but ten minutes later, the truck was driving through town carrying D.M. and Gammon, with Eustace at the wheel.

So, as the truck sped toward Nowhere, and Barsby tried to contact the Boss with Agent R, the Hendersons were getting ready for the day inside the house.

While the kids and the dogs were upstairs brushing their teeth and cleaning themselves up, Mr. and Mrs. Henderson were cleaning up the kitchen with Muriel.

"Where did your husband go, Muriel?" asked Diane Henderson as she cleaned a pot.

"He went to take two of our visitors into town…probably to show them the sights," answered Muriel, clearing the table.

"Or maybe they went to gather more information," muttered Carl.

"Now dear," began Diane.

"You never can be too sure with these 'government people'," said Carl.  "I mean, they could be doing who-knows-what behind our backs."  Then an idea hit him.  "You don't suppose they're trying to find out about what happened last time we were here, do you?"

"Carl, if that were true, they would've asked about it the moment they met us," replied Diane.

"Besides," said Muriel.  "They would've sent someone over much sooner by now."  She put her hand on Carl's shoulder.  "Trust me; so many things have happened here over the years that it's no surprise that someone from the government is finally taking interest in us."

Carl sighed and headed out of the room.  "Well, those government visitors make me nervous nonetheless."

Muriel decided to change the subject.  "Y'know, Diane, I don't know if I've asked you this before or not, but where do you live exactly?"

"Oh, our family lives near Columbus, Ohio.  It's quite a distance away, and the neighborhood we live in is not very friendly.  But, our landlord, Mr. Baker, is very kind and responsible."  Diane continued by describing her house and her history in the area and eventually Muriel began talking about herself as well.

Upstairs, Kevin, Courage, and Sandy were in the attic.  They were looking out the window and observing the agents' RV.

"What do you think they're doing?" asked Kevin.  Neither Courage nor Sandy could come up with a good answer.

"We'd better keep an eye out for these guys as well as Katie."

Courage sighed.  They'd kept so many eyes out for people already that he began to worry that it would be impossible to keep tabs on everyone at the same time.

In town, Eustace parked the car at a "One-hour photo" booth.  D.M. gave the film rolls to the man behind the counter.  As Eustace went into a video store, D.M. and Gammon waited outside for the pictures to be developed.

"Do we HAVE to sit out here and wait for the film to get processed?" moaned D.M.

"You want to go somewhere else?" asked Gammon.

D.M. looked around.  There weren't many places to visit at all.  "No," she finally said.

The two agents sat on the park bench in front of the photo booth for five more minutes before Gammon spoke up again.

"Look, um, D.M.  I'm sorry about…y'know."

"What?"  D.M. looked confused.

"Y'know, that stuff I said about you and Barsby?"

"Oh yeah," D.M. said.  Then, frowning slightly, she added, "That was a little out of line."

"I know," said Gammon.  "My mouth sometimes gets ahead of my brain."

"Yes, well, you certainly do have an interesting mind."

Agent Gammon quirked an eyebrow.  He couldn't remember the last time he received a compliment like that before.

Gammon sighed.  "I've known people who've thought my mind was, y'know, 'weird' or 'twisted' or things like that.  Well, I'm not.  I'm really just a normal person with an alter ego, that's all."

"Really?" asked D.M.

"Yeah.  When we get back to the RV, I could show you some sketches of my 'alter ego', if you want."

"That'd be cool!" said D.M. excitedly.  After a moment, she turned to the photo booth with a worried expression on her face.  "It's 10:15 already.  When are those pictures gonna be ready?" she mumbled to herself.

Throughout the entire morning, Agents R and Barsby tried to contact their Boss.  They weren't having much success.  Some "overseas issue of national security" was going on and the phone lines were jammed.  Even the top secret government lines!  It wasn't until noon that Barsby finally got a connection with the Boss.

"Boss, are you there?" asked Agent R, grabbing the phone.

"Agent R, what is your status?" said a slightly annoyed Boss.

"We are at the possible focal point of the town's bizarre activities.  It is currently under investigation as we speak."

"Excellent," declared the Boss.  "Where are your fellow agents?"

"They are getting the photos developed," said Barsby before Agent R could respond.

"At a public facility?" asked Boss.  He seemed shocked by the information.

Agent R quickly cleared his throat.  "Gammon and Darkest Moon are with the developer and making sure that the PRIVATE operation is taking place."  Agent R glared at Barsby as he said "private".

"Very well," said Boss.  "Good luck.  And I apologize for the long wait.  You no doubt know about the incident occurring…"

"Yes, sir.   Don't worry.  'Operation Nowhere' is still underway.  Over and out." 

Agent R hung up the phone and looked at Barsby.  "This is supposed to be a top secret operation, Barsby.  Saying that the photos are being developed by an unknown person is too risky."

Barsby sighed with agreement.  "Well, at least Gammon and D.M. are taking care of the situation."

"I hope," said Agent R.  "I sure hope so."  He got to his feet.  "C'mon.  Let's get some lunch inside the farmhouse."

At that moment, D.M. began banging on the counter of the one-hour photo booth.  "It's been over two hours!" she bellowed.  "Where's our photos?!"

"D.M., calm down…" said Gammon.

"Calm down?!!  How can I calm down when MY photos are being held by some stranger?  We should've gone in the developing room with that developer guy."  She paused and caught her breath.  "First my bat, now the pictures."  D.M. looked like she was about to cry.

"Don't worry," said Gammon.  Without a word, he leaped over the counter and disappeared behind a door.  After a couple minutes, Gammon came back with a white envelope and a sore hand.

"The photos!" shouted D.M. as Gammon gave her the envelope.

"Yeah, that developer sure was a busy guy.  Turned out, he finished our film an hour ago and forgot about us.  Fortunately…"  Gammon held up his sore hand and slowly made a fist.  "…I got the point across that we needed the photos 'now'.  One black eye later, he handed them over."

"Wow, that's amazing!" said D.M.  She gave Gammon a quick hug and started opening the envelope.  "C'mon!  Let's look at them!"

"Hold it!" shouted Gammon.  "We need to wait until all four of us analyze it at the same time.  We have to follow standard procedures."

"Awww," whined D.M.  "But what if these pictures aren't ours?"

Gammon quickly opened the envelope, took out the photos, and flipped through them quickly in front of D.M.'s nose.  

"Recognize any of them?"

"Yeah!  In fact…"

"Good," said Gammon.  He quickly put the photos back in the envelope, closed it, and gave it to D.M.  "Now, let's go find Eustace so he can drive us back to the RV!"

"Alright!  Race you!"  D.M. bolted out of the building.

As Gammon ran after her, he thought to himself, "If this is the same girl I called 'inexperienced' and 'too young' for the job, why do I find myself actually starting to LIKE her?"

One thing's for sure: if there's one thing D.M. knows how to make, it's friends in record time.

"I've had it," announced Kevin.  He turned away from the attic window and began heading toward the exit.

"What?" asked Sandy.  She and Courage followed Kevin.

"It's one o'clock in the afternoon, and I'm fed up with this.  I'm going to find out what is the matter with that bear from the one person who knows it most."

"Katie?" asked Courage.  The three of them entered the hallway.

"Exactly," said Kevin.

"But what if she doesn't want to talk?" questioned Sandy.

"Then I'll make her talk," answered Kevin.

Sandy and Courage grew nervous as they followed Kevin down the stairs and into the living room.  Katie sat on the floor in front of the sofa holding Mr. Furry.  She was shaking it upside-down, like she was trying to get something out of it.

Kevin shocked the dogs when he suddenly reached behind Katie and yanked Mr. Furry out of her grasp.

"Hey!" yelled Katie.

"Sit down, Katie.  I need to talk to you," ordered Kevin.

"Give me back Mr. Furry!"  Katie got to her feet and tried to retrieve her bear, but Kevin held Mr. Furry above her head.

"Not until you tell me what's going on!" demanded Kevin.

"Mommy!" yelled Katie.  But her mother and father were in the barn with Muriel, who was showing them the new light bulb that was installed in the barn's ceiling.

"This doesn't concern them, now listen Katie!  I know that Mr. Furry can talk to you.  What does he say?!!  Answer me!!!"

Sandy held Courage's paw.  She had never seen Kevin like this before, and, truthfully, it scared her.  Courage was equally worried.  Why didn't Mr. Furry come alive and attack everyone?

To everyone's surprise, Katie started crying.  Kevin was especially surprised.  He had never in his life yelled at his little sister before.  Katie's sobs felt like knife stabs to Kevin's heart.  Without a word, Kevin returned Mr. Furry to Katie, who scooped him up in her arms.

"I'm sorry, Katie," said Kevin.  He wanted to hug Katie, but her arms were clutching the possessed teddy bear.  "All I want to know is what the bear…I mean, Mr. Furry, told you."

Katie turned her tear-filled eyes toward Kevin.  "Mr. Furry says he's my friend.  He talks to me when no one will listen.  He laughs and tells me funny stories and jokes…things you used to do to me, Kevin."  Katie immediately frowned at Sandy.

At that moment, both Kevin and Sandy realized the significance of that last comment.  Before Kevin found Sandy, Katie had almost no friends in preschool and kindergarten.  Even through first grade, the only person Katie would ever talk to was her big brother Kevin.  They played together, they talked together.  They treated themselves like best friends rather than siblings.  But then, after Sandy was adopted, Kevin turned all his attention to her.  And later, when Kevin realized Sandy could talk to him, Kevin spent nearly all of his free time with her instead of Katie.  You can imagine how Katie must've felt about all that.  Jealous and always feeling left out, Katie stopped acting like a friend and acted more like a sibling toward Kevin.  She also stopped calling Sandy by her real name.  

And Kevin never knew any of that, but now, as he looked into his little sister's eyes, he could feel the pain and distress that had plagued Katie for years.  Without warning, emotion swept over Kevin, and he flung his arms around Katie, apologizing over and over again.  Sandy wanted to join, but she held back, knowing that this was between Kevin and Katie.

Kevin sat back on his heels, his eyes brimmed with tears.  "I'm…I'm gonna have to make it up to you, Katie," he said.

Katie looked down at her feet.  She had never seen her brother act like that before.  Sure, she had seen Kevin act bravely when he stood up to that ghost in the underground tunnel last time they were here, but this was something else altogether.

"So," said Kevin with a sniff.  "You…know Mr. Furry could talk after we left the cemetery, right?"

"Right!" said Katie.  Then her expression changed.  "Why?"

Kevin sighed.  This wouldn't be easy.  Still, it was better than telling her he could talk to Sandy.

"Well, Mr. Furry…can't talk.  At least, it's not him doing the talking."

Katie looked confused.  "Well, who then?"

"It's a ghost.  Not like the ghosts from before.  This one's a bad ghost."

"Really?" asked a now frightened Katie.

"Honest," whispered Kevin.

Katie looked at Mr. Furry with wide eyes and then stared back at Kevin.  "But the doctor is…is…"

"Whoa, wait.  What do you mean, 'doctor'?" said Kevin with a look of surprise.

"Sometimes Mr. Furry calls himself a doctor.  I don't know why."

Kevin looked at Sandy and Courage.  They were all thinking the same thing: was Mr. Furry possessed by the spirit of a dead physician?

"Anyway, go on, Katie," said Kevin.

"He's not here," whispered Katie.

"What?" asked Kevin.

"The doctor, or ghost, isn't here."  She pointed at Mr. Furry.  "He said he was going to be right back.  Said he had to go somewhere for a while, but he said he'd be back soon."

Kevin paused to take that information in.  The spirit wasn't here.  That was a relief.

"Did it say when he'd be back?" asked Kevin.

"Before morning," replied his sister.

"Okay," smiled Kevin.  That was one less thing to worry about tonight.  "C'mon, Katie, let's get ready for dinner."

Taking Katie by the hand, the siblings walked up the stairs to the restroom.

Courage and Sandy stared at each other in the living room for a moment.  "We're gonna have to figure out who this ghost doctor is soon," said Courage.

Sandy nodded her head and ran up the stairs after Kevin with Courage right behind her.

Around the corner, in the kitchen, Agent R and Barsby stared at each other in disbelief.  They had just finished eating lunch when they heard Kevin and Katie fighting.  They decided to listen in on the entire conversation.

"I think we've just hit the jackpot," whispered Barsby.

Agent R nodded.  "Do you know what this means?" he said with an astonished tone of voice.  "That means Gammon was right!  That electromagnetic instrument he had actually DID pick up ghostly readings from that bear!"

"Oh man, I think we owe him an apology," said Barsby.

"Especially you," muttered Agent R.  "Anyway, I don't really know what course of action to take next until Gammon and D.M. get back with those photos."

Barsby looked at Agent R.  "Did you hear what that pink dog said to the other dog?"

Agent R glared at Barsby.  "Their names are Courage and Sandy, if I remember correctly.  And yeah, he said 'Aroo-ra-roo-ro-blah-bleh-blu' or something like that.  I don't have to understand Dog to know that those pooches probably know as much as those kids do."

Barsby sighed.  "It's too bad we don't know somebody who can understand what dogs say.  Then we could interrogate them."

"Yeah," said Agent R, rolling his eyes.  "And where are we gonna find a person like THAT?"

Suddenly, a THUMP made the two agents jump.  Behind them, Muriel and Mr. and Mrs. Henderson were coming back from the barn.

"When's dinner!!" yelled Agent R before anyone could say anything.

"We were just about to get it ready," said Muriel.  "Would you like to help?"

"Err, uh, no, we were just on our way back to the RV," muttered Agent R, inching out of the room.

"Yeah," agreed Barsby.  The two abruptly exited the house.

"Government agents.  You just can't trust them," mumbled Carl.

"Now, Carl," began Diane.

"Oh, don't be wasting time you two," said Muriel.  "Let's get this dinner started."

Gammon, D.M., and Eustace came back just before dinner was served.  "Mission accomplished" whispered D.M. in Agent R's ear.  As Carl wondered what those two were whispering about, Diane was surprised to see her children talking and laughing with each other.  It had been so long since the two of them did something like that at the dinner table…or anywhere for that matter.  Diane smiled as the food was passed around the table and everyone got a portion of food.

Courage and Sandy spent dinner feeding each other food.  Everyone (except Eustace and especially D.M.) thought it was adorable.  

Afterwards, the agents walked back to the RV.  Other than that, the rest of the evening was pretty uneventful.

(…but not for long.  A single question still remains…if the ghost is not in Mr. Furry's body, where is it?   Like all spirits, it's able to assume a free-floating form and can go wherever it wants to.  And right now, that mischievous poltergeist is heading towards a certain motel on the outskirts of Nowhere…)


	13. Party Interrupted

"Party Interrupted" 

As the agents ate dinner with everyone else, night began advancing toward the town of Nowhere. The setting sun in the west invited the darkness of night coming from the east. At this time, the citizens of Nowhere were feeling tired and ready to fall asleep.

In the Katz Motel, however, things were different.

All day, the villains had gone into town and bought decorations for their "We got rid of the agents" party. (They never saw Gammon and D.M. at the photo booth.) During the afternoon, it was decided the party would take place in the basement. Katz organized where everything should be. Mad Dog and Queen of the Black Puddle put up streamers, since they were the tallest. Le Quack and Doc Gerbil blew up balloons. Cajun Fox and the Weremole went to get plates and other party favors. Eustace's Ma baked a cake at her house and brought it over to the motel. Having no arms, Foot Fungus just stood around and hung on to loose change. It took until sunset to have everything ready.

By then, everyone was ready to have a party. The problem was, no one knew where to begin. 

Finally, Katz had everyone seated and made his announcement. "Yesterday was indeed a close call for us. As villains, it is important that we keep our evil ways as secret and low-profile as possible. So when government agents try to unearth our behaviors, we don''t hesitate to fight back, do we?!"

The other villains cheered and clapped.

Katz continued. "This little party is a celebration for our achievements as bad guys……and girls," he said, noticing Ma and the Queen glaring at him. "We……"

"Can we get that stupid dog now?" interrupted Mad Dog. Several other villains agreed.

Katz sighed. "Yes, that is, of course, next on our schedule, but first we have a party to take care of." Katz took up his glass with one paw and raised it in the air. Everyone else did the same. "To villainy!" declared Katz.

"To villainy!" echoed the other bad guys.

As Katz brought down his glass of soda, Cajun Fox stood up in his chair and pointed his finger towards the ceiling. "Let it be known, y''all, that we are the baddest guys in all of Nowhere!" Everyone cheered and applauded.

But there was somebody else there who thought otherwise.

It started when the lights in the basement began to flicker for a moment. No one took much notice until it happened again. This time, everything became black for a few seconds until the light came back on.

Katz turned to Le Quack. "Is Ma still in the computer room?" He thought Ma was controlling the lights.

"I''m right here," said Ma, off to the side.

Katz took a quick head count and saw that everyone was there. Before he could say that it was probably some faulty wiring, a sound was heard from up above. Heavy footsteps were stomping on the lobby floor right above everyone's heads.

"Who in the world could that be?" questioned Katz. "I put up the 'closed' sign and everything." Turning to his guests, he said, "One moment, everyone." Then he charged up the stairs and opened the door.

It was dark in the lobby. There wasn't even any moonlight coming in through the windows. Katz made his way to the front desk and brought out a flashlight. "Is anyone here?" he said. When he received no answer, he walked out the front door and into the parking lot. Not one car could be seen anywhere, except for Mad Dog''s magenta sports car in the parking lot.

After looking around for a few more minutes, Katz turned around and went back inside. He decided to check the security monitors in the computer room, which was adjacent to the basement. Katz walked down the stairs and back into the basement. Once he arrived, he was shocked by what he saw.

All the other villains were gone! 

Katz wondered if they had all gone into the computer room. He ran to a door on the left side of the room and opened it. The room had TV monitors all along one wall and a chair on the floor, but that was it. The room was empty.

Katz began scratching his head, trying to figure out where everyone had gone. Just then, Katz looked at one of the monitors and saw the villains enter the lobby from one of the hallways. Katz sighed with relief. He theorized that when he was in the parking lot, the villains exited the basement and went to go look for the source of the sounds themselves. "They always have to find things out for themselves," muttered Katz to himself.

He was about to turn back into the basement when something else caught his eye. One of the monitors showed the restrooms and a long dark hallway. At the end of it, Katz saw someone dressed all in white walk past the hallway! At least, he thought he saw someone. It was only there for a split second.

Katz closed his eyes and massaged his head. He went back into the basement and opened his eyes. Katz gasped and he stumbled back as he saw what lay before him.

Everything in the room had changed. The chairs were stacked up on the table like a pyramid! The streamers were rolled up into balls! The cake was unceremoniously splattered against a wall! The room looked like utter chaos!

Katz began to feel nervous. For a moment, he wondered if his guests had done all this before they left the room. But there wasn't enough time to all this. Katz was only gone a few minutes!

Suddenly, he heard a shout from upstairs. Katz ran up the stairs and back into the lobby. No one was there to greet him. Where did everybody go?

Katz was about to head for the restrooms to go find the person he thought he saw on camera. But then, a faint glow caught his attention. In one corner of the living room, he heard what sounded like muffled laughter. At the same time, the temperature dropped in the room, and Katz's breath became visible.

In the corner of the room, Katz observed a small man in a doctor's outfit. It appeared as though a light from somewhere was shining on him from somewhere. His back was to Katz and seemed to be turning one of the indoor plants upside down.

Katz thought about shining the flashlight on him when he stopped. He was about ten feet away from the stranger when Katz realized it the person HIMSELF who was illuminating the surroundings! As if sensing someone was there, the stranger slowly turned around and showed his face to Katz. He was about sixty and had a bald head, whiskers, and a long, bushy beard. He was indeed wearing a doctor''s outfit from sometime in the 1800s. The man grinned at Katz and spoke in a dark, whimsical tone.

"Now, what seems to be the problem today, fellow citizen of Nowhere?"

Katz began shaking with fear……and not just because he could see the plant straight through the man's body. He had heard that saying before. In fact, everybody in Nowhere, especially the older townspeople, was familiar with it. 

Katz gulped, the flashlight shook in his paw. He could think of only one thing to say.

"D-Doctor Stromwell?"  
  


At that moment, in a small Gypsie wagon, Shirley the medium woke up with a start. The inside of the wagon was bathed in a red light that was coming from her crystal ball. Shirley lazily got out of bed and looked into her ball. Her eyes widened with amazement and her jaw dropped as she stared into the glowing sphere.

"Impossible," whispered Shirley. "It cannot be. How could he return?"

Elsewhere, at that moment, Dr. Zalost sat up in bed. He rubbed his large head and was about to fall asleep, when a feeling swept over his body. He gasped. His eyes traveled to his window, in the direction of the Katz Motel.

"He has returned," he whispered.  
  


Suddenly, back at the motel, all the lights in the lobby flashed on. Katz dropped his flashlight and rubbed his eyes when he opened them again, the ghost was gone.

"Who were you talking to?" asked a voice behind him.

Katz whirled around and saw his guests staring at him with curious expressions. "Where have you all been?" asked Katz, breathlessly.

"Looking for you," replied Le Quack.

"Did you see……?" began Katz, who pointed at the upside-down plant. Before he could finish his sentence, however, all the lights turned off again.

"That''s it,"" declared Mad Dog. "I'm sick of this. You all can have your party if you want, but I'm gonna go after that little pink dog." He stormed out of the lobby. No one stopped him. Mad Dog got into the driver''s seat and started the engine. He looked over to the passenger seat. Lying in the seat was D.M.''s bat.

"Time to put you to good use," said Mad Dog to the bat. He slammed on the pedal and zoomed out of the parking lot in the direction of Courage's house.

Inside the lobby, nobody moved. They were too terrified to find out what would happen next (a first for all of them!) 

After a moment, Katz slowly crept over to Cajun Fox. "I think you were wrong, my friend," whispered Katz to the fox. "I think we''re dealing with someone who is, in fact, badder than us."

As that fact sunk in, something became audible above everyone's head. It was a humming sound, similar to a giant hummingbird.

The last villain who spoke up that night was Doc Gerbil. "Does this mean we don''t get any cake?"

Later, the villains tried to recall what happened next. All they could remember was a sound like wood exploding above their heads. Looking up, they could see the ceiling fold away like a banana peel and disintegrating. An extremely bright light shined down on them all. Trying to shield their eyes, the villains could feel themselves become lighter than air and began rising up off the ground before they were rendered unconscious.

In his car, Mad Dog happened to glance in his rear view mirror. His eyes widened with surprise as he saw a domed spaceship, illuminated with lights, hovering in the sky! A large beam of light was shining down from the craft to the ground below!

Mad Dog slammed on his brakes and turned around in his seat. But, through the rear window, there was nothing in the sky at all.

Turning back around, Mad Dog shook his head. "Must be seeing things," he muttered as he continued on his short journey to destroy Courage.

(Confused? Don''t worry, dear reader. The ghost and the UFO are two totally unrelated events……I think. And who is Dr. Stromwell? Could he be the ghost who''s possessed Mr. Furry? And if so, why?)


	14. DM vs MD: Darkest Moon versus Mad Dog

"Darkest Moon versus Mad Dog" or "D.M. Gets Her Bat Back" (at last)

As the villains were getting scared out of their wits at the Katz Motel, the agents had returned to their RV.

Agents Gammon and Darkest Moon gad returned from town in Eustace's truck and Eustace was more than happy to let them go to the RV.  Agents R and Barsby were thrilled to discover the pictures, but they decided to wait until it was dark before examining them.

Then Barsby and Agent R told their partners about what they had overheard in the kitchen.  D.M. was shocked, but Gammon simply folded his arms in front of him and smiled.  When they were finished, Gammon said, "Didn't I tell you so?"

"Yes, Gammon, I admit you were right," said Agent R.  He quickly nudged Barsby, who said, humbly, "Well…I guess I owe you an apology too for not believing you."

It took some doing, but Gammon and Barsby eventually shook hands and gave each other a quick hug.  Gammon reached around him and pulled out the electromagnetic device that detected the spirit.  "I guess this thing was made for a reason," he declared.

"So," spoke up D.M.  "There really is a ghost?"

"Yes," said Agent R. "There is some paranormal activity that has taken over the 'body' of that small bear that the little girl carries around.  She said the spirit was a doctor, so the ghost must've worked in the field of medicine before it died."

"Yeah, but without a name, we don't know how to identify this apparition," said Barsby.

"I think our top priority is that package of photos," mentioned Gammon.

"Gammon's right," said Agent R.  He looked at his watch.  "Let's wait an hour before opening them."

"Why?" asked Gammon and Barsby.

"Because in an hour, it'll be midnight," said D.M. with a grin.  "And I think that'll be the perfect time to open them."

Gammon sighed.  He hated delays, but he muttered, "Sure, why not?"

One uneventful hour later, Agent R opened the packet.  Inside, there were forty-eight photographs from two rolls of film.  The first ten photos were puppies from the pet shop in Nowhere.  D.M. smiled embarrassingly as she put them in her pocket.  The rest of the photos showed artifacts from the museum, vacant streets, and a blurry purple foot.

"Hey, there's that foot guy!" said Barsby.

"Yeah!  How'd he get there?" laughed Gammon.

The next photo showed a picture of Mad Dog with a startled expression on his face that made the agents laugh.

"Hey, remember that photo, D.M.?" asked Barsby.  "You took that before he tripped over the Foot!"

"Yeah," laughed D.M.

The next few photos were of Courage and Sandy.  They looked surprised and startled by the camera.  They were taken when the agents first met them.

Agent R flipped through the final photos.  As soon as the last photo was flipped, Agent R shouted, "Wait!  Look at that last one!"

D.M. held up the last photo and put in under the light.  The agents leaned in to get a closer look.

"Whoa," whispered Gammon.

The photo showed Katie holding Mr. Furry.  It had been taken at the museum.  Katie seemed normal, but something was wrong with Mr. Furry.  His head was faded over with a white haze.  And in the center of that haze was the face of an old man.  Grinning evilly.

The face sent chills down each agent's spine.  D.M. started quivering, which caused the photo to shake in her hand.

"I think we have our proof," said Agent R.

CRASH!  The sound caused the agents to jump and start screaming.  They grabbed each other for protection until they suddenly realized that no one was attacking them.  The agents turned around and saw a small figure standing in the middle of the RV.

It was Courage, bathed in a ray of moonlight.  Above him, the emergency exit door hung down from the ceiling.  Apparently, Courage had jumped down on the door from above and had fallen through it.

Courage had tried to fall asleep, but his mind kept wandering to those agents.  He began to suspect they knew about the ghost.  So, Courage had crept out of his house and arrived at the RV.  He knew he couldn't use the front door, so he quietly climbed onto the roof and discovered the emergency exit door.

Courage shakily got up.  He saw the four agents clutching each other with a fear that was quickly receding.  D.M. was the first to speak.

"Hey, it's just Courage," she told her partners.  She began walking towards Courage.  "Hey, there!  What are you doing here?"

The other agents let go of each other and slowly approached Courage.  Feeling very nervous, Courage began backing up.

"Easy, Courage," soothed Agent R.  "We aren't gonna hurt you."

Courage therefore let the agents walk up to him.  Agent R began patting Courage on the head, but then he began patting Courage all over his furry body.

"What are you doing?" asked D.M.

"I'm just checking to make sure Courage isn't carrying any recording equipment," replied Agent R.

Gammon gently pulled Agent R away from Courage.  "He's a dog, Jonathan.  I think if he was carrying any equipment, we'd see it."

Agent R apologized.  "Just following standard procedures, that's all."

Barsby spoke up.  "I think we could use a little company."

Courage smiled at that remark.

Just then, a blinking red light caught Gammon's attention.  He rushed over to a control panel.

"That's weird," Gammon said.  "About five minutes ago, radar detected a low-flying aircraft hovering over the eastern area of Nowhere."

"Like a helicopter?" asked D.M.  She and the other agents rushed over to him.

"Yes, but what's strange is that it appeared for a moment on the screen, out of nowhere, and then it vanished as quickly as it appeared!"

"Well, at least the town was appropriately named," muttered Barsby, trying to make a joke.  No one laughed.

"Did you pick up any identification?" questioned Agent R.

"Negative.  The object was unidentified."

"You mean…we got a UFO now too?" asked Barsby, his voice rising.

"Yep," said Gammon.  "Looks like it.  It's gone now."

"Man," said Agent R.  He looked down at Courage.  "Your hometown is bad news, dog."

"Speaking of bad news," said D.M.  She was looking through the blinds of a window.  "You guys aren't gonna like this."

Courage gulped as the agents ran to the window.  They spotted a pink sports car sitting on the far side of the road.  Walking around his car, baseball bat in hand, was Mad Dog.  The moonlight reflected off his eyes, giving them a sinister red color.  He slowly began to walk toward the RV.

"It's Mad Dog," D.M. told Courage.  "He has my bat and he looks mad."

"What's he coming here for?  He's already dealt with us," asked Gammon, referring to him and the other agents.  As soon as he said it, all four agents turned towards Courage.  The pink dog shook with fright.  He had lost his sense to stay calm.

Courage also lost control of an important body function, because Agent R suddenly blurted out, "No!  Not on the floor!"

Courage looked down and was immediately hit by a feeling of embarrassment.  Fortunately, the floor was linoleum, so it was easy to clean up.  But there wasn't time for that now.

Mad Dog would arrive at the RV within minutes.  "We need to think of a plan," whispered Barsby as he closed the emergency door.

Stepping around Courage's "accident", Agent R agreed.  "We obviously outnumber him, so this is what we'll do."

Everyone liked the plan except for Courage, but seeing as how he didn't have much choice, he reluctantly agreed.  He hoped he knew what these agents were doing.

When Mad Dog stepped up in front of the RV, he slapped the bat in his free paw.  "I know you're in there, little dog," shouted Mad Dog.  "You took Bunny away from me, and no one does that to me and gets away with it!  So, I'm gonna count to five, and if you're not out here by the time I get to five, I'm coming in after you!"

Mad Dog counted to five and made clear that he was coming in.  Walking to the rear of the RV, Mad Dog smashed the rear window in with the bat.  Shards of glass rained down onto the floor.  Mad Dog crawled through the window as large pieces of glass punctured his skin, but he hardly noticed.  He suddenly smiled.  At the other end of the RV, backed up against the emergency brake, was Courage, shaking and whining in the dark.

"There you are," said Mad Dog to himself.  With that, Mad Dog started walking towards Courage.  He walked past D.M. who hid under a cot, holding her breath.  He walked past Gammon who hid in a cupboard, terrified that the angry Doberman would discover him.  Mad Dog walked past Barsby, who hid in a closet.  He held a clothes hanger in his hand, just in case.  

Mad Dog's senses were focused on Courage.  He trembled and whined pitifully as Mad Dog came closer and closer. ("Almost there," thought Agent R.)  Mad Dog held the bat tightly in his paws and a grin spread across his face.  ("One more step.")  

Just then, before Mad Dog thought about raising the bat and putting an end to Courage's misery, Mad Dog felt a drop of perspiration land on his nose.  As he looked up, he heard a voice scream, "NOW!!" and saw Agent R let go of the ceiling above Mad Dog and landed on top of him.

Courage ducked out of the way as Mad Dog shouted, "Get off 'a me you crummy agent!"  At that moment, the other agents got out of their hiding places and started ganging up on Mad Dog.

Courage had high hopes that the agents would come out on top, but they underestimated Mad Dog…especially since he still carried the bat.  After a moment of confused attacking, Mad Dog pushed D.M. aside (as she kept screaming, "Gimme back my bat!"), slammed Gammon against a wall, and elbowed Barsby in the stomach.  Then, with frightening speed and dexterity, Mad Dog swung the bat into Agent R's stomach, who immediately keeled over.  Then, Mad Dog hit Agent R in the side of his face with his free paw.  Agent R collapsed on the ground.

"Jonathan!" shouted D.M.

Courage stood up in front of the gear stick.  Mad Dog looked at Courage with a gleam in his eye.  "It's just you and me, dog."

Courage felt like he was about to faint, when suddenly, D.M. shouted, "Don't hurt Courage!  He's a good dog!  We don't want to see him hurt!"  

The moment Courage heard those words he realized these agents weren't just protecting him for the sake of the mission.  These agents actually cared about him!  Why else would they risk their own lives to protect him?  D.M. was the most outspoken about it, but Courage knew the other agents cared about him too, having just seen them fighting against incredible odds.  An instantaneous rush of adrenaline roared through Courage's veins as a single course of action entered his mind.

So, when Mad Dog turned his attention to D.M. and told her to shut up, Courage saw his opportunity.  He took a flying leap towards Mad Dog and rammed him with his head.  Mad Dog was taken off guard.  He stumbled backwards and slipped on the puddle that Courage had made earlier.  Mad Dog fell on his back as the bat left his grip and rolled towards D.M.  Her hand quickly grasped the handle of the bat.  She felt like Arthur pulling out the sword from the stone.  With zero fear now, D.M. walked over to Mad Dog, stood on his chest, and looked down into his astonished eyes.

"Thanks for giving my bat back," she said sweetly.

Courage, Barsby, Gammon, and Agent R winced as D.M. raised the bat above her head and brought it down on Mad Dog's head with a 'POW'!  It rendered Mad Dog unconscious.  Looking back at the males, D.M. smiled and said, "It pays to be nice."

"So, what now?" asked Gammon.

Half an hour later, a cab drove up to the farmhouse.  The agents and Courage lifted a bundle of blankets, which held Mad Dog inside of it.

The cab driver got out of the car.  She was a well-built woman in her late forties.  She helped them lift the bundle up onto the roof.  She looked at Agent R and said, "Were you the one who called?"

"Yep," said Agent R.  He decided to have a cab drive Mad Dog as far away from the farmhouse as possible.  And he knew just the person to call.

"Good thing I was in the neighborhood," said the cab lady.  She helped the agents tie down the mattresses to the roof of the cab.

"Now remember," Agent R told the cab driver.  "Make sure you keep on driving until that dog wakes up.  If he falls off, perfect.  Just keep on going.  He's pretty harmless once he wakes up anyway."

"Will do," said the woman.  Before she got behind the wheel of the cab, she gave Agent R a kiss on the cheek.  Gammon and Barsby laughed and guffawed by that action as the cab suddenly drove down the road.

Agent R sighed as he watched Gammon and Barsby walk back toward the RV.  "Make sure you guys clean up all that glass!" he shouted to his two partners.  Then, he clutched his stomach in pain.

D.M. and Courage rushed to him, but Agent R shook them away.  "Don't worry.  It's only a bruise.  I'll be okay in the morning.  Trust me." 

"You took quite a blow," said D.M. admirably.

"Yeah.  Good thing I know how to take a punch in the stomach…and the head."  Agent R rubbed a sore spot on his temple.  "Anyway, D.M., you might want to go and help Gammon and Barsby with the cleanup."

"Right," said D.M.  She turned to Courage.  "I'll be sure to clean up your little mess too," she said with a smile.  Courage blushed slightly as she walked towards the RV.

Courage then saw Agent R looking back down the road.  The cab was only a faint pair of red lights now.  Agent R sighed and looked back at Courage.  "That woman was something, wasn't she?"  Courage nodded in agreement, although he didn't understand why Agent R made such a big deal.  The woman wasn't exactly attractive for a guy like Agent R.

"Yep," said Agent R.  "Good ol' Mom."

With that, Agent R turned on his heel, leaving a jaw-dropped Courage by the road.  That agent never ceased to amaze him.

Agent R smiled to himself as he approached the RV.  It's not every guy in America who has a CIA double-agent cab driver for a Mom and a Dad who's your boss.

Eventually, Courage went back into the house and fell asleep in his cot at around one A.M.  

An hour later, Sandy woke up in the basement.  She felt so uncomfortable knowing that the ghost could return to Mr. Furry at any moment.  Suddenly, she decided she would no longer sleep down in the basement again.  Sleepily, Sandy walked up the stairs and entered the living room.  She walked up the other flight of stairs to the second story.  She peeked into the bedroom and saw Eustace and Muriel in a deep sleep.  She then continued walking until she reached the attic.  She opened the door and peered inside.

There lay Courage on his back, fast asleep in the cot.  Sandy walked up to him and ran a paw through the fur on Courage's head.  She had never seen Courage so peaceful and calm before.  Sandy wanted to wake him up and tell Courage how she felt about him, but she didn't want to disturb Courage's peaceful slumber.  Besides, Sandy already knew how Courage felt about her.

A wave of sleepiness washed over Sandy just then.  Sandy saw that there was just enough room for one more in the cot.  She pulled aside the covers and slowly got into bed.  Courage stirred slightly when Sandy laid her arm across his chest, but he didn't wake up.  Sighing with satisfaction, Sandy rested her head on Courage's shoulder and was soon asleep.

(Looks like Kevin's in for one heck of a surprise when he finds out where Sandy has been sleeping.  But that's not the only shock that's in store for Kevin tomorrow…)


	15. The Bad News

"The Bad News"

Kevin lazily woke up.  For a moment, he wondered where he was.  He looked around and saw that he was in the basement.  He clumsily crawled out of his sleeping bag and yawned.  According to his watch, it was 7:45 in the morning.  Getting to his feet, Kevin stretched his arms and legs, causing his pajama clothes to shift over his body.  He sighed and caught sight of his parents.  They were still asleep, snoring in separate sleeping bags.

Kevin glanced at his sister, Katie.  She was also asleep.  Kevin felt a slight chill as he saw Mr. Furry's head peeking out of Katie's sleeping bag.  Kevin knew, deep down, that the ghost of that doctor, or whoever he was, had returned to the bear.  Kevin felt rather uncomfortable watching Katie clutch Mr. Furry like that.  She still didn't fully grasp the seriousness of the situation.  Still, as long as Mr. Furry was with Katie, there wasn't much the ghost could do.

Kevin walked up the stairs and entered the living room.  At that moment, Kevin wondered where Sandy had gotten to.  He remembered seeing her fall asleep in the basement, but she wasn't there now.

Kevin searched the kitchen, quietly calling out her name.  Kevin looked in the backyard, pantry, closet, and upstairs hallway.  When Kevin peeked into Eustace and Muriel's room, he thought for sure that Courage would be sleeping on the foot of the bed.  Well, Eustace and Muriel were still asleep and Courage wasn't there.

"Maybe Courage is upstairs in the attic," thought Kevin to himself.  Kevin walked to the attic stairs and climbed them.  He opened the door.  Kevin spotted the computer and, on the other side of the room, the cot.  There was a dog-sized lump under the covers. 

"I'd better wake up Courage and ask if he knows where Sandy is," whispered Kevin to himself.  He approached the cot and spotted a tuft of pink fur poking out of the top of it.  Kevin reached down and threw back the sheets.

"Hey, Cour-…" began Kevin, but he stopped.  He couldn't believe his eyes.

Courage was there alright.  But so was Sandy, holding Courage in her arms.  Both of them were asleep, but they tightened their eyes, due to the sudden brightness, and began waking up.

You can imagine the scene that followed.

Kevin screamed first.  He was so startled by what he saw, that he jumped back from the cot like he'd been electrocuted.  He lost his balance and stumbled backwards into the desk chair that sat in front of the computer.

Courage's eyes flew open.  He saw Kevin sitting on the floor, screaming at him for some reason.  Looking down slightly, Courage discovered why.  He had fallen asleep in his cot alone last night, and now, to his surprise, Sandy was waking up next to him!  Leaping up out of the bed, Courage shrieked with surprise and ended up with his back pressed up against the wall next to the cot.  

Sandy was awake by now and began screaming too, partly because everyone else was screaming.  Instinctively, Sandy reached down and pulled the covers up to her neck.

Fortunately, nobody else in the house woke up because of the screaming.  But that didn't mean nobody heard screaming, as you're about to find out.

At the moment, however, Kevin had stopped screaming and began babbling a bunch of gibberish: "I…hu…wha…I...da….you!"  Kevin pointed at the dogs with a quivering finger.  "You….you…!"

Courage gulped.  Kevin didn't really look mad, just shocked.  Courage looked at Sandy again and suddenly knew exactly what Kevin must be thinking.

Sandy knew too because she suddenly held up her paw and kept saying, "It's okay, Kevin!  We didn't do anything!"  As a response, Kevin kept saying, "Are you sure?"

After a moment, Kevin began calming down.  He was about to stand up, when suddenly a flash of movement caught his eye.  Kevin turned and saw someone standing in the doorway.

"I heard some screaming!" shouted the intruder.  "Is everyone al…?"

It was Agent Gammon.  He stopped when he surveyed the scene before him.  The Kevin kid was lying on his back breathing heavily while Courage and Sandy looked rather surprised and breathless between the sheets.  They were all staring at Gammon.

"Uh, sorry," apologized Gammon.  "I was going to use the restroom down the hall and I heard some screaming so I…"  Gammon paused.  For some reason, those two pink dogs in bed brought a funny, almost humorous, expression to Gammon's face.  "Am I, uh, interrupting something?"

Kevin, Courage, and Sandy were too stunned to answer.  Gammon then felt it was wise to leave this little scene.  He turned and headed back down to the kitchen.

Agent Gammon started eating an apple when Agent R walked in for some breakfast.

"Where've you been?" asked Agent R to Gammon.  "You haven't been sneaking around Eustace and Muriel's room, have you?"

Gammon choked on a piece of apple.

"I guess not," said Agent R.  "Find anything else interesting around here?"

"You could say that," muttered Gammon.

As Gammon watched Agent R turn back to the RV outside, Agent Gammon decided to keep what he just saw to himself.

For the rest of the morning, Kevin kept asking Sandy about last night.  He kept asking Sandy, "Are you SURE you didn't do anything?" so many times, that she threatened to scratch Kevin's leg up if he asked again.  Courage wondered about last night as well.  Sandy assured him during breakfast that nothing happened and wouldn't say anything more about it because she was "too embarrassed by the whole thing."  (Courage and Sandy didn't actually do anything, just to let you know.  This story is PG rated, after all.)  Courage also wanted to tell somebody about his fight with Mad Dog, but Courage felt like it was something that only he and the agents should know about.  After all, there wasn't much point in worrying anyone else about it.

After Gammon and R returned to the RV, they decided to have breakfast there instead of the house.  Some cereal, fruit, and coffee were what greeted Agents D.M. and Barsby.  After breakfast, the agents argued about whether or not they should inform their boss about the "ghost and UFO."  Agents Gammon and R wanted to call the Boss, but D.M. and Barsby opposed the thought.  They feared that they didn't have enough information to report.  Finally, the agents decided to postpone telling their boss.  After last night's fight with Mad Dog, they still needed some more time to recover.  

It was shortly after noon that Kevin received the bad news.

At that time, Eustace and Muriel were in town running an errand.  The agents were also in Nowhere, eating lunch at a restaurant.  Katie was upstairs playing a game on the computer.  (The computer was letting Katie win most of the time.  She seemed unaffected by the computer's attitude and kept Mr. Furry by her side as she played.)   Kevin was in the kitchen finishing a snack when he heard his father's voice coming from the living room.

"Son?  Could you come here a minute?" asked Carl.

Kevin walked into the living room and asked what was up.  He saw his mother and father sitting on the couch and looking at him.  With a shock, Kevin saw that his mother had been crying!  

"What's wrong?" asked Kevin, with worry growing in his voice.

"Sit down, Kevin," said Carl, who pointed to the easy chair.  "I'm afraid your mother and I have some…bad news."

Nervously, Kevin sat in the chair, looked at his parents, and sighed.  "Okay…who…who died?"

"No one, Kevin," said Diane, tearfully.

"Then, what is it?" asked Kevin.

Carl sighed.  "Son, there's no easy way to say this…" he began.

A myriad of thoughts were colliding in Kevin's head at that moment.  He thought, "What could they tell me that's so awful?  I won't get accepted into college?  I'm adopted?  Oh gawd, did they find out about Katie and the ghost that's in Mr. Furry?"

"Go on," urged Kevin out loud.

"There's no easy way for me to say what I have to tell you, son," said Carl.  "So…I guess I'll just say it."

Here it comes, thought Kevin.

"Son….we've been evicted from our apartment."

Kevin gasped.  "You and Mom?"

"No, Kevin.  All of us," said Diane weakly.  "We no longer live in our apartment."

Kevin couldn't believe it.  He felt like someone had removed his stomach and his heart was sinking, sinking, sinking into a bottomless pit.  Instantly, Kevin remembered their home; a two-story apartment with high rent and a bad neighborhood in the vicinity of Columbus, Ohio.  Kevin was stunned that their apartment was no longer theirs.

Kevin stared at his parents.  "How…how did this happen?"

Carl sighed.  "It started a few months ago.  You remember my job, right Kevin?"

"Yeah," answered Kevin.  Carl worked for a technology corporation with an office downtown.  

 "Well, about ten weeks ago, my boss asked me to withdraw some money from a supposed investor.  'Investigatory reasons,' he said.  So, I made a few online transactions and that was it.  What I didn't know was that my boss had been sued recently by a competing company for some reason or another, and he wanted to get back at them.  Are you following me so far?"

"Yeah, Dad."

"Well, my boss decided the best way to get back at our competition was for them to lose money.  So, I ended up swindling money illegally from our competing company."

"What?" whispered Kevin in shock.

"I had no clue that I was doing something illegal!  My boss lied to me by saying that it was just a 'mandatory operation.'  Kevin, remember about a month ago when I said I was going on a 'week-long business meeting' downtown?"

"Yeah," whispered Kevin.  His throat was beginning to tighten.

"I was actually going to court, which can be defined as a 'business meeting'.  My boss and several workers, including myself, were on trial.  The trial went by much quicker than I anticipated.  My boss ended up going to jail and all the involved workers lost their jobs."

"But, I thought only you made the transaction!" blurted out Kevin.

"I did, but other workers knew about it too.  Anyway, we all got laid off.  When our landlord, Mr. Baker, heard about my case, he pointed out a policy in our lease that read… 'Any tenant involved in criminal activity of any degree or magnitude will henceforth be eradicated from the premises.'  In other words, we had to leave."

Now things were beginning to come into focus for Kevin.  That explained why Carl and Diane were packing things into boxes before their trip to California.  That also explained why they brought so much stuff with them on the trip.  Of course, they didn't know they would stop in Nowhere on the way over.  Kevin did, of course, because of the nightmares he kept having (from my "Courage and the Hendersons" story.)

Kevin tried calming himself down.  "Why did we drive all the way to Aunt Vivian's and Uncle Mike's house?"

Diane spoke up.  "They called us about some real estate that they thought we'd be interested in.  Once we were there, we changed our minds, apparently.  Property prices in San Fran are high this year."

"But we can't live here forever!" shouted Kevin, his arms motioning to the house around him.  "Where are we gonna live?"

"We're still searching, son.  We're still searching," said Carl.  Diane began crying again and Carl leaned over to comfort her.

Kevin heard some more whimpering off to the side.  Kevin turned and saw Sandy at the foot of the stairs.  She was weeping on Courage's shoulder.  Courage looked like he was about to cry too.  

"Does anyone else know?" asked Kevin.

"We talked to Eustace and Muriel.  Muriel was a bit more sympathetic than her husband, the old geezer."

"Carl!" scolded Diane.

"Anyway, they agreed to go into town today and ask a travel agent about property prices in this state."

So that's why Eustace and Muriel went to town today, thought Courage.  Courage hugged Sandy, her face wet with tears.  Courage wished that the Hendersons could live in the same town, or at least the same state, as he did.

Kevin sighed and then turned angrily to his parents.  "Why didn't you tell me any of this??!!"

"You were too stressed out with high school, Kevin," exclaimed Diane.  "Semester exams were your 'top priority', and you recently broke up with your girlfriend too.  We decided it was best to wait until you were ready to hear."

"And what about Katie?  When are you gonna tell her?"

"Kevin, you know Katie's far too young to take this matter maturely.  This isn't something we can talk about over the dining room table…if we still had it."

"You mean our furniture's been repossessed?!"

"Only the dining room and coffee tables that Mr. Baker loaned us.  We've kept everything else."

"I can't believe this!  I can't believe you two could do something like this and not even tell me!"

"Kevin!" called Carl.  But Kevin was already running up the stairs with the dogs right behind him. 

Kevin didn't want to disturb Katie in the attic, so he tossed himself into the bathroom and broke down.  Courage and Sandy comforted him as best they could by nudging their heads against Kevin's arms and licking his tears.  It took about an hour for Kevin to return to normal.  That was when he heard a knock on the bathroom door.  It was Katie.  She walked over to Kevin and the dogs and sat down with them.  Kevin placed his arms around his little sister.

"I'm scared," said Katie.

Kevin looked at her.  He knew she couldn't be talking about the eviction.  "Me too," said Kevin.

"I'm scared of Stromwell," muttered Katie.

"Who?" asked Kevin with a start.  Courage and Sandy stared at each other.  They noticed that Katie didn't have Mr. Furry with her.

"Doctor Stromwell.  The ghost inside Mr. Furry.  He said his name was Dr. Stromwell."

"Ah," said Kevin, rather matter-of-factually.  But his mind was spinning.  At last, they had a name for the ghost.  Kevin could see that Courage and Sandy were excited too.  Kevin looked back at Katie.  "Well, there's no need to be scared.  As long as you keep that bear with you and listen to what the ghost says."

"Really?" asked Katie.

"Well," corrected Kevin.  "If he tells you something that I'd never tell you to do, don't do it, okay?"

"Okay," answered Katie, who squeezed Kevin.

Katie, Kevin, and the pooches remained there until Muriel and Eustace returned from town.

Unfortunately, by now, the agents knew about the Henderson's eviction.  How?  When they finished eating lunch, they spotted Eustace and Muriel leaving the travel agent place.  They went inside and talked to travel agent, who ended up telling them about Eustace and Muriel asking for state property prices for their recently evicted friends, the Hendersons.  The travel agent even called the Hendersons' landlord, at the secret agents' request, who confirmed the information, much to the secret agents' surprise.

On the way back, Agent R had an announcement.  "I think we've been letting our personal feelings get in the way of our job."

"What do you mean?" asked D.M.

Agent R continued.  "We've delayed information to our boss.  We've become too accustomed to our surroundings.  We've become too friendly.  It's time we follow standard procedures and do the necessary interrogations…starting with that Kevin kid."

"Yeah, that's guy's weird," said Gammon in the passenger seat.  "This morning, I found him and the dogs…"

"Gammon, do we really need to hear that story again?" interrupted Agent R.  "Anyway, what with the eviction on his family and all, he's going to be an easy shell to crack."

In the back, D.M. and Barsby glanced at each other.  They knew that following 'standard procedures' would make this operation a lot less fun.

At around four o'clock, Kevin stood alone in the living room.  The rest of his family, Eustace, Muriel, and the dogs were all in the basement.  Apparently, some mice were discovered down there, and since the Hendersons didn't want to sleep in a mouse-infested room, everybody decided to pitch in and see if they could find the mice.  Kevin, however, decided to watch some TV instead.  He was about to turn it on when he heard a voice from upstairs.

"Hey, Kevin!"  It was Agent R.  "Could you come up here?  I need some help!"

As Kevin walked up the stairs, he heard someone walking up the stairs behind him.  Looking over his shoulder, it turned out to be Agent Darkest Moon.  She was wearing a secret agent uniform.  She spoke up before Kevin could comment on the outfit.  

"Is Agent R up there?" she asked.

They reached the top of the stairs.  "Where are you?!" shouted Kevin.

"In the attic!  Hurry!" yelled Agent R.

"C'mon!" said Kevin to D.M. behind him. "He needs our help!"

The closer they got to the attic, the sicker D.M. started to feel.  She knew what she was gonna have to do, and she wasn't gonna like it.  She felt compelled to say, "It's a trap, Kevin!", but she had her orders.

When Kevin opened the door and walked in, he was greeted with a bizarre sight.  

The computer and the cot were where they always were.  A shade was pulled over the only window in the room.  A tall lamp provided the only light in the dimly-lit room.  The light shined down on a chair.  Behind the chair, Agents Gammon, Barsby, and R stood still, with their secret agent outfits and sunglasses.  None of them smiled, which gave them sinister, almost 'Matrix'-like qualities.

Agent R pointed to the chair in front of him.  "Sit down, Kevin," he said.

Kevin whirled around only to discover that the door was shut!  D.M. had locked him in!

Agent R's voice spoke up again.  "I think it's time we had a little chat, Kevin." 


	16. Not So Secret Agents

"The Not-So-Secret Agents" 

"Sit down," repeated Agent R.  He placed his hands on the back of the chair as Agents Gammon and Barsby remained standing on either side of him.

Kevin sighed.  He knew there was no way out of it.  It was pointless to try and fight the agents, and the only exit was locked.  Kevin slowly walked toward the chair.  

"I guess Dad was right," muttered Kevin.  "You just can't trust government agents."

"It's our job not to be trusted," said Barsby.  "Especially with so much at stake."

Kevin sat down in the chair wondering how much information the agents knew.  He concentrated on the floor as Agent R talked.

"Now then," he began.  He slowly began walking around Kevin.  "To begin, let me start off by saying that you are a very gifted individual."

Kevin heard a sound in front of him.  He looked up and saw Agent Darkest Moon quietly enter the room.  She closed the door behind her and locked it.  Kevin wondered how she had locked the door from the outside when the door's only lock was inside.  (He later learned about an electronic mechanism the agents used that triggered the locking mechanism of most doors.)  As D.M. walked over to Barsby, Agent R continued.

"From what little we know about you, Kevin, you look like the kind of person who is extremely observant about your surroundings."

"Go ahead and grill me," said Kevin stubbornly.  "I won't talk."

"Really, Kevin," uttered Agent R with surprise.  "I'd think a kid like you would be too smart to use that line.  You're far too gifted."

"Yeah, I bet I'd make a great secret agent one day," said Kevin, sarcastically.

"I'm sure you would," smiled Agent R.  "But as for right now, we are in the midst of a matter of national security, so it would be really helpful if you'd cooperate with us and answer some of our questions.  Gammon?"

Agent Gammon walked in front of Kevin and reached for the lamp.

"What were those two dogs doing last night?" Agent Gammon asked threateningly, shining the light in Kevin's face.

"Gammon, get a hold of yourself, you freak," Agent R said, grabbing Gammon by the collar and jerking him away.

"Sorry," Gammon said, looking at the floor.

"I think I'll ask the first question," said Barsby.  Kevin looked up at Barsby as the agent asked, "How long have you known?"

"Known what?" asked Kevin.

"Don't play dumb with us," threatened Agent R.  "We know all about the ghost and Mr. Furry."

Kevin's eyes widened with astonishment.

"Surprised?" asked Agent R.  "You think we've been here on a vacation this whole time?  We've been watching you, Kevin.  All of you.  Our assignment is to investigate what's going on in the town of Nowhere and…" 

"What goes on in Nowhere is none of your business," Kevin interrupted angrily.  "Besides, we're tourists.  We know no more about the town than you do."

"Tourists, hmm?" replied Agent R, a smile spreading on his face.  "It might interest you to know that we just went to the travel agency a while ago, and it doesn't look good for your family right now."  

Kevin gulped quietly as he listened to Agent R explain every detail about his family's eviction.  "I admit, getting kicked out of your own apartment must be devastating…especially with everything going on in your life right now…and Katie's too."

"K-Katie?" whispered Kevin.

Agent R sighed.  "It's true.  You never were around for her when she needed you.  You were too busy with that dog of yours, what was her name?  Ah, yes, Sandy.  So who did Katie turn to instead?  Why, Mr. Furry, of course.  But what's this?"  Agent R said with mock surprise.  "It's seems a ghost has taken residence in the body of Mr. Furry!  You don't want the ghost to stay there, do you Kevin?  Because, if Barsby and I heard correctly, it's 'a bad ghost', am I right?"

By this point, Kevin was thoroughly enraged.  The fact that the agents outnumbered him was all that kept him from lashing out at them.  However, Kevin's rage weakened slightly when he caught sight of D.M.  Even with glasses on, Kevin could see that she wasn't enjoying this interrogation either. 

"Trust me," said Agent R.  "This'll all be over soon if you simply tell us everything you know about this ghost."

For a moment, Kevin was relieved.  At least the agents didn't know that he could talk to dogs.  But Kevin was still hesitant.

"So, what are you gonna to do to my family once you've found out about this ghost?  Are you gonna take us away to some facility and ask more questions?"

"No, but…"

"And what about Katie?  You already know about her life, thanks to me."  Kevin began hating himself for not realizing that the agents had been listening in on his talk with Katie.  "Are you gonna experiment on her and the bear for levels of ectoplasm or whatever it is that tells you a ghost has been there?"

"Well, we might if you keep refusing to answer our questions!" snapped Agent R.

Kevin was taken aback for a moment, but then he narrowed his eyes.  "You think you all can scare me into giving away anything?  You and your 'Matrix' outfits and sunglasses and things like that?  Well, that may work on some people, but not me!  I'm not talking!"

Agent R crouched down to eye level with Kevin.  Kevin could see his reflection in the agent's sunglasses.  Agent R didn't smile when he said, "Well, Kevin, we have other ways of making you talk."

Someone coughed at that moment.  Everyone turned and saw D.M. motioning to her partners to talk to her for a moment.

"Stay there," said Agent R to Kevin.  "The door's locked anyway."  With that, Agents R, Barsby, and Gammon walked over to D.M.

"What is it, D.M.?  We're in the middle of an interrogation," whispered Agent R.

"This is getting us nowhere," said D.M.  She sounded very annoyed.

"What do you mean?" asked Gammon.

"What do I mean?" repeated D.M.  "We've been interrogating Kevin for five minutes now, and if he was really in the depressed state you said he was in, Agent R, we would know everything about the ghost by now."

"I underestimated him," argued Agent R.  "He's a lot more stubborn than I thought."

"Well, we don't have much time to talk it out of him," said D.M.

"She's right," interrupted Barsby.  "Everyone downstairs is going to search for Kevin if we keep him up here too long."

"Oh, so what are we gonna do?  Torture him ourselves?" whispered Gammon harshly.

"That won't be necessary," said Agent R.  "Look at him."  The agents quickly glanced at Kevin, his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands.  "He's in bad shape, but still fighting.  I don't think he could take much more abuse."

The other agents looked at him oddly.

"Besides," continued Agent R.  "We left all our torture devices back in Washington."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot," mumbled the other agents.

"So, what now?" asked Gammon, who looked at Agent R.  "Do we keep interrogating him?"

Before Agent R could answer, D.M. spoke up again.  "I have an idea," said D.M.

"Really?  What is it?" asked Agent R.  He seemed caught off-guard by D.M. coming up with a plan before he did.

"It seems to me that Kevin is not going to talk as long as he thinks we're the enemy.  So…" she paused for a moment.  "Why don't we stop acting like secret agents and start treating Kevin like a friend?"

"What?" announced Gammon.  "What kind of a plan is that?"

"D.M.," said Agent R, calmly.  "That's very thoughtful, but it goes against standard procedures, and…" 

"Jonathan," interrupted D.M.  She sounded angry.  "Ever since we stepped foot in this town, everything has been against standard procedures.  We have made decisions that you won't find in any law book or government manual.  Why bother doing things by the book anyway?  It just slows everything down!  I say, to heck with 'standard procedures' and let's start doing things our way!"

"But if we don't follow proper protocol," reminded Agent R.  "We'll be kicked out of the business!  We'll lose our jobs!"

"Let me ask you something," said D.M.  She smiled slightly, as if she'd wanted to ask Agent R something for a long time.  "Did you really want to be a secret agent?"

"D.M., don't bring this up now," argued Agent R.

"No, really, answer the question.  Did you ever want to be a government agent?  I want the truth."

Agent R paused for a moment and looked at each of his partners.  He turned back to D.M.

"No, okay?  I didn't want to be a secret agent."

"And why is that?" questioned D.M.

Agent R frowned.  He couldn't tell them that their boss was his father.  "Family business," was what he ended up saying.

"And you," said D.M., turning to Barsby.  "Did you enjoy having to leave Britain and work here as a secret agent."

"I have nothing against America," said Barsby.  "But if I wanted a job as a government official, I would've stayed in my own country.  When I arrived here, I was searching for a new job involving forensics.  I worked at a government building, so when I saw a line of people outside my office one day, I got in line too, thinking some new job opportunities were waiting for me at the other end.  As it turned out, they were actually recruiting new secret agents for the U.S. government, and somehow I became one of them."  Barsby took a breath.  "So, you see, it's purely an accident that I'm even here."

"Well, at least some good came out of it," said Agent R.  "At least you got to see the country for the first time."

"Yeah, and you got partnered up with us!" exclaimed Gammon with a grin.

"Lucky me," muttered Barsby, but a smile appeared on his face as he said it.

"And Gammon," spoke up D.M.  "I've seen those sketches in your notebook.  You have too much artistic talent to be in a job like this."

"Y'know, you're right," said Gammon.  "I accidentally became an agent too, just like Barsby, except I was in Indianapolis and, to make a long story short, was at the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Yeah, it hasn't been real fun for me either," admitted D.M.  "All the paperwork and anxieties you have to deal with, keeping your identity secret and all.  That's just not for me."

No one said anything for a moment.  Then Agent R spoke up again.

"So…we all agree that we hate our job?" 

"Well, I kind of enjoyed it at first," admitted Gammon.  "But I guess I just wasn't prepared for the pressures that I had to face.  This job is a lot tougher than it is in the movies."  All the other agents agreed.

"Maybe," said Agent R.  "Maybe when we go back to D.C., we should go look for another job on the other side of the country.  Maybe join the Witness Protection Program or something."

"Yeah," said Barsby.  "I admit it, I'm curious as to what the Pacific Ocean looks like."

"I wouldn't want to go to L.A.," said D.M.  "Too much air pollution."

"How about San Francisco?  Or Seattle?" offered Gammon.

"No, no!  I got it!  Las Vegas," said Agent R.  His partners really liked that idea.  They began naming famous hotels and landmarks they would like to visit or work at.

"Okay, let's take that into consideration once we get back to Washington, okay?"  Agent R held out his hand, palm down.  One by one the other agents put their hand over their partner's hand, like a sports team.

"To Vegas!" said Agent R.  And other agents repeated it as they moved their hands down and back up again.

"This is so cool," said Gammon.

"Yeah," said D.M.  "This is probably the first time we've ever really, y'know, bonded like this before."

"Wait!" said Barsby suddenly amidst the celebration.  "What about our boss?  How are we gonna break the news to him?"

"Leave that to me," said Agent R.  He sighed.  Dad's not gonna like this, he thought to himself.

"So, can we get back to the interrogation?" asked D.M.

"Yeah," said Agent R.  "The sooner we tell Kevin what we just admitted, the sooner he can start trusting us again.  Then he can tell us who the ghost is."

The Agents turned around and saw Kevin slumped back in his chair, fast asleep.  

"Maybe we shouldn't…" began D.M.  But Agent R was already waking Kevin up.

"Zzzzz…mm…wha...I…I won't talk…" mumbled the half-awake Kevin.

"Don't worry, Kevin.  We've come to a decision," said Agent R.  

He knew what he was about to tell Kevin went against everything he had ever learned about his job, but Agent R remembered what D.M. had said: "To heck with standard procedures."  And Agent R actually felt better about breaking free from the rules.  For the first time in a long while, him and his partners ("friends", he thought to himself) were finally free to do whatever they wanted.  

Feeling like a giant weight had been lifted off of him, Agent R continued.  "I won't lie to you, Kevin.  We've enjoyed this interrogation as much as you have, which isn't much, I'm sure.  So, we're willing to let bygones be bygones, to use and outdated expression, and drop this whole interrogation right now."

"Really?" asked Kevin.

To prove his point, Agent R removed his glasses and put them in his pocket.  The other agents followed his example.  Much to Kevin's surprise, Agent R sat on the floor in front of him as the other agents stood by.

Agent R groaned.  "My legs need a quick rest," he said.  "I've been on my feet all day."

Kevin just sat still, wondering what the agent was up to.  "To tell you the truth, Kevin, our job has really…not been to our liking.  Sure, it has its advantages, but we were forced into this job by accident, against our will.  If you tell us who this ghost is, we'll not only delete it from our report, we will actually let you decide what you want our boss to see in the final report.  What do you say?"

Kevin was baffled.  "You mean…you all want to quit your jobs after this assignment?"  Agent R nodded.  "And you'll all depend on me to make sure this place isn't investigated on anymore?"

"That's right.  If you want us to, we will erase any knowledge of ever having met you or the Hendersons or anyone else."

If Agent R had kept his glasses on, Kevin wouldn't have believed a word he said.  But Kevin took a good look at Agent R's eyes.  Kevin could sometimes tell if a person was lying just by looking at their eyes.  To Kevin's surprise, there was something calm and relaxing about Agent R's eyes, like he knew that he wasn't hiding anything.  Kevin then looked at the other agents, who weren't wearing their glasses either.  Even from a distance, Kevin could see expressions of honesty in each of their faces.  Gammon was staring at Kevin with curiosity, as if he didn't mind either way what the outcome would be.  Barsby looked sad, almost pleading with Kevin to come to a decision.  D.M. was smiling slightly, almost flirtatiously.  Kevin hated to hurt her feelings for some reason.  

So, Kevin took a deep breath and said, "Okay.  As long as you're leaving your jobs, sure, I'll tell you who this ghost is."

"Awright," Agent R got to his feet, as did Kevin.  All agents immediately took off their black overcoats, revealing their Hawaiian shirts.  The sight actually made Kevin laugh softly.

"I must admit," said Kevin.  "This has been the weirdest interrogation I've ever had.  I…um…wow, you guys really want to leave your jobs?"

"Being a secret agent is really not as fun as you might think, Kevin," said Agent R.

"The four of us just weren't born to have a job like this," said D.M. off to the side.

"Yeah," said Agent Barsby.  "Besides, the coffee makers break down all the time."

"And the TVs in our offices don't get cable," added Gammon.

"Yeah, that could drive anyone to quit their jobs," joked Kevin.  Before he got too carried away, however, Kevin turned to Agent R and got serious.  "Now, you'd better not go back on your word, okay?"

Before he answered, Agent R reached into his overcoat lying on the ground and took out a government document.  It was Agent R's official document of admission…the one document that proved that Agent R could work for the government.  To the shock of everyone in the room, Agent R abruptly ripped the paper right down the middle.  As the two halves of the now-worthless document fell to the ground, Agent R said to Kevin with a smile, "Looks like I don't have much of a choice now."


	17. Leonard Stromwell

"Leonard Stromwell"

The attic door opened.  Slowly, Kevin exited the attic and headed for the stairs.

After the agents had confessed about how they really felt about their jobs, Kevin had told them as much as he knew about the ghost, which wasn't much.  According to Katie, the ghost's name was Doctor Stromwell.  That was all the agents needed to know, but Kevin added that he had a hunch that he'd have to double-check online.  The agents also needed to use the Internet as well, to send an urgent e-mail to their boss explaining that everything was alright.  So, Kevin had agreed to use Courage's computer while the agents could use Kevin's laptop.  However, Kevin's laptop was downstairs, so he had offered to go get it.

"Just make sure you don't bring any people back up with you," Agent R had warned. 

So now, Kevin descended the stairs trying to remember where he had put his laptop.  He discovered his parents watching TV with Eustace and Muriel.  Carl and Diane watched their son as he remembered that his laptop was in the basement.  Kevin walked over to the basement door and walked carefully down the stairs.  Halfway down, Kevin stopped.

Sitting in the middle of the room was Katie, who was holding Mr. Furry in her lap.  Katie looked up as Kevin descended the rest of the stairs.  He could see his laptop in the corner of the basement, but Kevin felt like he should say something to Katie now that her focus was on him instead of Mr. Furry.

"So," said Kevin, who scooped up his laptop in his arms.  "Did he…y'know, say anything to you yet?"

"Why?" asked Katie.

"Just curious.  Honest," said Kevin truthfully.

"Well," said Katie.  "He said that he was going to 'make some people sleep',"

"Sleep?"

"Yeah, but he stopped when you came in."

"And he didn't say who?"

"Mmm…no."

Kevin stood up and thought for a second.  "Well, just be careful, okay?"

"Okay," said Katie as Kevin walked back up the stairs with his computer.  Despite his brother's word, Katie was still not convinced that Doctor Stromwell, the ghost inside Mr. Furry, was evil.

Kevin came back into the living room just as he heard his father's voice speak up.  "Son, are you okay?"

Kevin looked at the concerned faces of his parents.  Eustace and Muriel were getting some snacks in the kitchen.  On the muted TV, a news report was describing a "strange craft" that had appeared in the town of Nowhere.  Kevin would've taken considerable interest in the report, but his attention was currently focused on Carl and Diane.

"Yeah, I'm sorry I freaked out about it," said Kevin quickly.  He wanted to get upstairs as quickly as possible.

"It's hard for anyone to lose a home, and…" began Diane.

"Hey, it's okay.  I'm over it.  Really," interrupted Kevin.

"Well, we just wanted you to know that whatever happens, we will always be here for you, because we love you, son," said Carl.

Kevin didn't know what to say.  He was able to utter a "Thanks," before dashing up to the attic.  Along the way, he ran into Courage and Sandy who had been watching the night sky in Eustace and Muriel's bedroom.  

"What's going on?" asked Sandy.

"Yeah," added Courage.

"C'mon," said Kevin to the dogs.  "The agents are gonna help us figure out who the ghost is."

Courage and Sandy were very surprised to hear that news.  They didn't expect the agents to switch sides.  But they didn't argue with Kevin as they followed him up to the attic.

The agents had already turned on Courage's computer when Kevin entered the room.  

"I've got the laptop," announced Kevin.

"Great.  Hook it up," said Agent R.  Then he caught sight of Courage and Sandy, and he turned to Kevin.  "I thought I told you not to bring in anyone with you."

"You said not to bring any PEOPLE back with me, but you didn't say anything about dogs," responded Kevin.

Agent R sighed.  "Alright, the dogs can stay.  Now, c'mere and help us find that ghost."

"Hey, Courage," said Gammon, who was seated in front of Courage's computer.  "Could you c'mere and type in your password?"

So, eventually both computers were up and running.  Agent R sat down on the floor with Kevin's computer in his lap while Kevin sat at Courage's computer.  Everyone else stood behind them to watch.

As Agent R was typing an e-mail message to his boss, Kevin was on a search engine looking at San Francisco cemeteries.

"What are you looking for?" asked Agent Darkest Moon.

Kevin glanced over his shoulder.  "I'm trying to find the website of the cemetery my family visited when we were at San Fran."

"Why?" asked Agent Barsby.

"Because I know that the ghost must've come from that cemetery, since it was shortly afterwards that Katie starting acting differently."

"So, now you're trying to find a background on this Stromwell ghost, correct?" asked Agent Gammon.

"Precisely," answered Kevin.

"Can't you just type in Stromwell's name in the search engine instead?" asked D.M.

"It would take too long to search through all the entries.  Ahh, here we go.  The North San Francisco National Cemetery."  Kevin clicked on the link.

As the site loaded up, Courage wondered why his computer wasn't making any wisecracks at Kevin.  Looking at the monitor, Courage suddenly caught sight of a small "sound icon" in the top-right corner of the screen.  It had a slash through it, which meant that the mute button was on.  Courage knew about the button that turned it on, and he wondered why he didn't mute his computer more often.

"Okay," said Agent R.  "I bought us some time by telling Boss that we're still investigating the town and that everything's alright.  How are we doing?"

Every person and dog was behind Kevin now.  Gammon and D.M. were holding Courage and Sandy in their arms respectively, so the dogs could see the screen better.  The cemetery's website was fully loaded by now, so Kevin clicked on the directory link.

"This must be the listings of all the people buried in the cemetery," said Kevin.

The following page posted listings from A-G, H-R, and S-Z.  Kevin clicked on 'S-Z' and the next page showed rows of photographed tombstones listed alphabetically.  Kevin slowly scrolled down until the name Stromwell appeared.

"There it is," he said as he pointed to the photo.  He immediately clicked on it to get a better look.

The tombstone was exactly the same as when Kevin had last seen it.  The same grey color.  The same elaborate angel on top.  The same strands of weeds that poked out of the ground nearby.  And right there, in big bold letters: "STROMWELL, LEO"

"What's the website?" asked Agent R, who ran back to the laptop on the ground.  Kevin said the website out loud, letter by letter, as Agent R typed it into the address bar and pressed enter.  

Kevin scrolled down the page.  "Hey, look!" he said.  Below the photo was a bunch of personal information about Leo Stromwell (height, weight, etc. at time of death) as well as his last taken photograph.  As Kevin clicked on the photo, Agent R did the same on the laptop.

"Interesting fellow," said D.M. as the photo came into view.

Leo Stromwell looked the same as when Katz saw him, only more alive…a short old man with an Einstein-like hairdo, whiskers, and a thick white beard.  When Courage saw the man, he thought he looked vaguely familiar.   

"Yeah, he could probably make a good Santa Claus," joked Barsby.

"Or Richard Attenborough," added Gammon.

D.M. meanwhile was busy calculating Leo's age.  "It says that Leo was born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1845."

"Five years before Joseph killed Reginald," whispered Kevin to himself.

"What?" asked Agent R.

"Nothing," said Kevin out loud.  "And, uh, it says he died in 1907."

"That would make him," D.M. thought for a second.  "…sixty-two years old when he died."

"Hey, if you scroll down farther, you can read his entire biography!" announced Agent R.

"Perfect," said Kevin.  "I should print it out, right?"

"You read my mind, Kev," said Agent R.

Kevin immediately highlighted the biography and pressed the print command.  As the bio was printing, everyone took the opportunity to read about Leo Stromwell's life on Courage's computer.  Here was what the biography/obituary said:

Professor Leonard Quincy Stromwell, born Feb. 24, 1845 in Kansas City, Missouri, was a well-known medical professor during the late eighteen-hundreds.   He died in an auto accident on June 23, 1907 in San Francisco, California.  He was 62.

Leonard was educated in grammar school before attending the university in St. Louis.  He graduated with a PhD in medicine and was a professor at the university for ten years.  In 1881, he quit teaching at the university and became interested in parapsychology.  Working part-time as a doctor in the rural town of Nowhere, Kansas (everyone's jaw dropped upon reading that), he became a respected member of the community, despite his hobby of gathering information about ghosts and other paranormal phenomenon.  He had even set up an underground laboratory where he would unsuccessfully attempt to conjure up spirits of the dead.

In 1890, at the age of 45, Leonard married Abigail Lewis, age 28, and in 1896, bore a son, who's last known photo (2002) can be seen here (with the word 'here' being a link to the actual photo.)  

In 1901, a mysterious occurrence happened that caused Leonard to become mentally unstable.  Details are scarce, but authorities claim that a tax error caused Leonard to inherit over five million dollars in federal money.  When the government sent officials to confiscate the money, it was learned that Leonard had hidden the money in a secret, underground location under the city of Nowhere.  It's unclear as to what occurred after the officials tried to arrest Leonard for resistance against the U.S. government.  What is clear is that Leonard and Abigail Stromwell had disappeared from Nowhere, and the money was never found, despite a $500 reward issued to anyone who discovered the money.  Their son was adopted by a new family and grew up to become a veterinarian, with interests in space exploration and colonization.

Equally mysterious was that Leonard was discovered five years later working at an animal shelter in San Francisco.  His IQ had been lowered considerably and his speech was very enigmatic.  However, before authorities could apprehend him, the 1906 San Francisco earthquake occurred, and he was hospitalized for several months.  Three days after he was released, in 1907, he was run over by a Model T Ford and was buried in the North San Francisco National Cemetery.

His wife, Abigail, was never found.    

Leonard will be sorely missed by the citizens of Nowhere.  For twenty years, he would always say the same thing whenever a patient entered his office: "Now what seems to be the problem today, fellow citizen of Nowhere?"  People considered it his catchphrase.

A memorial for his wife has been temporarily postponed due to financial difficulties.  Visit the homepage to make a donation.

RECENT UPDATE: Following in his family's footsteps, Leonard Stromwell's son has disappeared from Nowhere, Kansas at the age of 106.  Authorities assume it had something to do with the experiments he had been conducting, involving illegal space exploration with animal subjects.  No news yet on whether he will resurface like his father or disappear for good like his mother.

(Author's note:  This wasn't mentioned in the biography, but Leonard also delivered newborn animals at the shelter.  The last animal he delivered at the shelter was, believe it or not, Katz's father!  He survived the quake somehow, and when Katz was born, his father told him all about Dr. Stromwell and his catchphrase.  That was why Katz was so shocked when Stromwell's ghost appeared at his motel in chapter 13.  Once Stromwell said his catchphrase, Katz knew exactly who he was.)

As Kevin and the agents read the baffling biography on Courage's computer, Courage and Sandy were doing the same on Kevin's laptop.  After reading it, Courage was curious as to who Doctor Stromwell's son was.  So, with Sandy looking over his shoulder, Courage clicked on the link that would display a photograph of Leo's son.  As the photo started coming into focus, Courage felt a chill go up his spine.  Sandy's curiosity was increasing as the picture slowly loaded onto the screen.

When the picture finally came into view, Courage nearly dropped dead from shock.

"What's wrong?" asked Sandy, who saw the stupefied expression on Courage's face.  "Who is that?"

Courage lifted a shaking paw and pointed at the old man's long, unkempt, white beard…his ugly yellow teeth…his spotted bald head with single stands of hair sticking out of it…and those tinted goggles and white veterinarian outfit.  Courage struggled to speak.

"He…he's the…m-man who…sent my…p-parents…into…space…"

Sandy gasped as her paws flew to her mouth.  Leonard Stromwell was the biological father of the evil veterinarian Courage had told her about during her last visit to Nowhere!  She whispered an apology in Courage's ear as Courage sighed sadly.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised," he muttered as he clicked on the back button on the screen.  Deep down, Courage knew that he now had a much stronger grudge against Doctor Stromwell than before.

"Wow," said Barsby, once he finished reading the bio.  "That family is messed up!"

"I'll say," said Gammon.  "Leo was over fifteen years older than Abigail when he married her."

"And they had a kid," said D.M.  "Ick."

At last, the printout was given to Agent R.  As he pocketed it in his coat pocket (the agents are wearing their government outfits, remember?), an idea hit him.

"Hey, Kevin," said Agent R as he nudged the dogs aside and sat in front of the laptop.  "I'm gonna try and hack into the medical records of Nowhere and see if we can find anymore information about Stromwell."

"Well, I'm a pretty good hacker myself.  You should let me do it," said Kevin smugly.

Agent R quirked an eyebrow at Kevin.  "Race you," he said.

"Um, Jonathan?" asked Gammon.  "Do you think now is a good time to…?"

"GO!" shouted Kevin.  Both he and Agent R began typing madly on the computer and laptop.  Kevin found the medical website first, but Agent R was the better hacker.  He found Stromwell's personal file and hacked into it three seconds before Kevin did.

"Aw, man," said Kevin, who collapsed back in his chair and turned to Agent R.  "You're really good!"

"Years of experience, my friend.  And look what we have here!"  Agent R pointed to a document on the screen with handwriting on it.  "I betcha that's Stromwell who wrote that.  Hmmm," Agent R started typing keys again.  "For some reason, I can't zoom into the document.  I'm gonna have to download it onto that other computer."

"Okay," said Kevin.  He turned to Courage.  "You have any blank disks?"  Courage shrugged his shoulders.  "I guess not," muttered Kevin.

"Don't worry, I got it covered," said Agent R.  From one of his pockets, he pulled out a connector cable.  He attached one end to the back of the laptop and the other end to the back of Courage's computer.  As Agent R was connecting the wire to the Courage's computer, he accidentally pressed the unmute button.

Just as Kevin was about to press 'Enter', a seductive, electronic female voice broke the silence.  "Hey there, big boy," it said.

Courage turned to Sandy and gave her an odd look.  "Don't look at me.  I didn't say anything," she said.  Kevin and the agents all turned to D.M.  "Hey, that wasn't me, I swear," she said.

Just then, Courage's computer spoke up.  "Well, hello there," he said in an amused tone.

It took a moment for everyone to realize that the two computers were talking to each other!  Kevin was especially surprised, because this was the first time he had ever heard his laptop talk.

"What's a big, hot guy like you doing in a place like this?" asked the laptop.

"Uh, well, I guess you could say I'm living the high life in the middle of nowhere," answered Courage's computer.  Both computers laughed at that remark.

Kevin groaned.  "I don't have time for this."  He walked over to Courage's computer, but Courage got there first.  "We need to download some information into you now, okay?" he typed.

"What…download?  Now?!" asked the computer in a surprised tone.  "In front of everybody?"

Courage sighed and rolled his eyes.  "Yes, now!!!" he typed.

"Well…alright.  How does that sound, darling?" asked the computer.

"I'm waiting," said the laptop seductively.  Kevin was beginning to feel sick from all this.

"You'll all have to turn around while we do this," said the computer.

"I don't believe this," mumbled Kevin to himself as he pushed the mute buttons on both computers and pressed 'Enter' on his laptop.  "C'mon, guys.  We might as well do what the hardware says."

As everyone turned around, Kevin couldn't believe that he was taking orders from a computer, and Sandy was astounded that the computers could come to life like that.  On the other hand, Courage and the agents were trying their hardest not to bust out laughing from the ordeal.

"Hey, C-Courage," said Gammon, trying not to laugh.  "Looks like your computer leads a better life than we do."  Courage, Gammon, and Barsby began guffawing as D.M. turned her amused face to Agent R.  "How long will the download take?" she asked in a squeaky voice.

Agent R's grinning red face turned to his watch.  "About fifteen seconds tops," he said in a soprano voice.

By the time fifteen seconds were up, the download was complete, and the document was now on Courage's computer.  Courage ran to his computer, unmuted it, and typed in, "Feel better?"

"I'll say," gasped the computer's voice.

The agents nearly collapsed with laughter as Courage pushed the mute button again.

"Hey, guys!" shouted an annoyed Kevin to the agents.  "Can we take a look at the document now?  Or do you wanna continue comedy hour?"

"S-S-Sorry," said Agent R, stifling a laugh.  He and the rest of the agents took a moment to calm down.

"That was the weirdest thing I've ever experienced," said Barsby.

"Yeah, well, you guys are the weirdest people I've ever met," said Kevin with a smile.  "Now, c'mon, check this out."

Kevin, Sandy, and the agents stood behind Courage as he zoomed in on the handwriting.  It said in capital letters: "I've done it!  Success at last!  The gateway is open!"

"Gateway?" asked Kevin.  "What gateway?  What's he talking about?"

"I wish I knew," said Agent R.

Suddenly, from downstairs, a girl's scream was heard.

"Katie!" yelled Kevin, who immediately bolted out of the room.  He was followed by Courage, Sandy, and the agents.  Agent R had just enough time to unplug both computers before following the group in front of him.  As he approached the top of the stairs, he heard Kevin scream, "O-MY-GAWD!!!"  When Agent R reached the top of the stairs, he looked at where everyone else was staring and was shocked by what he saw.

In the living room, Carl, Diane, Eustace, and Muriel were slumped on the furniture and on the floor.  Their eyes were closed and they were motionless, which filled Kevin with horror.  Next to the basement door, backed up against the wall, was Katie.  She looked terrified, but she must've left Mr. Furry in the basement because he was nowhere in sight.  Kevin didn't know whether she screamed because of the fallen adults or because of who was at the door.

Standing side by side in the front doorway, with expressions of shock and confusion, was Dr. Zalost and Shirley the Medium! 

"Mom!  Dad!" shouted Kevin, who ran down the stairs (along with the agents and the dogs) and bolted to his parents.  He was very relieved to discover that all four of the adults were still breathing.

"What did you two do to them?" asked Agent R angrily to the two new visitors.

"We didn't do anything," said Dr. Zalost.  

"We were just about to knock on the door when we heard a scream," said Shirley.  "The door was unlocked, so we let ourselves in."

"Hey, I know you!" Gammon said to Zalost.  "You're the guy I interviewed when we went into town!"

"Yeah," said Barsby who turned to Shirley.  "And you're Shirley, the medium I interviewed."

"Ah, yes," muttered Shirley.  "The stupid government person who kept asking too many questions."

"Hey, now.  Let's not be rude, okay?" said D.M.  "We're different now than we were before."

"Right," agreed Agent R.  "But enough about us.  Why are you and Zalost here, Shirley?"

Before Shirley could answer, Kevin shouted, "I can't wake them up!  They must be under some sort of sleeping spell or curse or something."  Katie ran over and hugged her brother, trying not to cry.

"Spell, yes," said Shirley.  "By the looks of it, I'd say the ghost of Doctor Stromwell is behind all this."

"Most definitely," said Zalost.

"Whoa, wait a minute," said Agent R with astonishment.  "How do you two know about Stromwell?"

"It's a long story," she said.

Before she could elaborate, Gammon stood up onto the coffee table.  "Could I have everyone's attention please?"

"Gammon, what are you doing?" asked Agent R.

"I've got something to say, Jon," said Gammon.  "As you all know by now, this case has gone way out of our hands…and paws.  We are dealing with stuff here that's beyond anything we can possibly comprehend.  But do not fear, because it is the truth that we seek, and…"  Gammon let a tiny smile slip onto his face as he took a deep breath and said, "…never forget that…the truth is out there!!!"

Nearly everybody groaned.  Agent R was about to comment on Gammon's time-wasting and pointless speech…but he never got the chance.

At that moment, a sound could be heard outside.  It sounded like a giant airplane propeller getting louder and louder.  Zalost was the first to the door and looked up into the sky.

"Everyone!" he shouted.  "Come see this!"

So, naturally, everybody ran out to the front yard (except for the sleeping adults), and stared up at the sky in curiosity.

"Over there!" yelled Agent R, who pointed to the sky over Nowhere.  Everyone turned and gasped.

A huge, silver, domed craft was rocketing towards the Earth at a great speed!  It was diving straight down towards the ground.  Everyone thought it was going to crash, but at the last moment, the alien spacecraft pulled up in time to slam it's underbelly into the dirt.  It was heading straight for the house, but it was slowing down.

"The RV!" shouted Agent R.  The spaceship was heading in the direction of the camper.  Fortunately, the ship missed it by feet, but the RV became covered with mud and dirt.  Now the unidentified sliding object was heading straight for the house…and everybody who was standing outside!  No one could move as the craft came closer and closer.  Finally, the spacecraft stopped about sixty feet from the house.  The engine, or whatever was powering the thing, turned itself off.  Steam was billowing all around, as the house-sized flying dome-ship sat there in the night.

At a time like this, Agent R could only think of one thing to say.  He leaned over to an astonished Agent Gammon, who was mumbling to himself, "Of all the times to quit our jobs, why now?  I think this is a sign.  I think…"

"Gammon?" interrupted Agent R.

Gammon turned his eyes towards Agent R.  "Huh?" he uttered.

"I think you're wrong, Gammon," said Agent R as he turned back to the spacecraft and pointed at it.  "I think the truth is right there."

(Next chapter: Both Stromwell and the all-too-familiar-aliens reveal themselves at last.)


	18. The Duck Brothers Return

The Duck Brothers Return

Imagine you're standing in a desert at night.  No grass.  No trees.  Nothing but sand beneath your feet and a vast, starry sky above your head.  It's kind of cool outside, with a slight breeze blowing from the west.  The lights of a small town can be seen down a long road that stretches back all the way to the horizon.  Next to the road, behind you, is a wooden farmhouse.  A windmill also stands nearby, as well as a water pump and two vehicles.    

Seems like a plain, ordinary setting, right?

Now imagine you have a little sister holding onto your left hand in fear and a small, pink, female dog holding your right hand.  Your dog is also comforted by a pink, male dog that has grown quite fond of her.  Standing nearby are four secret agents who plan on quitting their jobs the moment they get out of this place.  Also nearby is a small, green-furred Chihuahua wearing a pink Gypsy outfit and a strange man wearing a lab coat and having a misshaped head.  All of you, including yourself, are staring in awe at a fallen alien spacecraft that looked like an upside-down metal cooking bowl with Christmas tree lights.

Not a very plain and ordinary setting anymore, is it?  But that's precisely the scenario Kevin found himself in at that very moment.  Kevin was feeling the same as any ordinary person would be feeling in that same situation…terrified, yet filled with awe and wonder.

The agents were equally amazed.  D.M. sighed to herself.  Now was probably not a good time to inform everyone that her one and only camera had been destroyed during the fight with Mad Dog.

Courage was quivering and holding onto Sandy with worry.  The fact that the spaceship looked oddly familiar was all that was keeping Courage from going totally berserk with terror.

No one knew what to do at first.  Everyone just sort of stared at the craft for what seemed like a long time.  Then, losing patience, Kevin took a step forward.

Immediately, there was a mechanical sound and a bright light.  The craft was opening!  A door on the front of the UFO was opening up and a ramp was sliding down to the ground.  The ramp reached the ground halfway between the spaceship and the onlookers.

Everyone had to shield their eyes from the incredibly bright light.  Kevin began shaking as he saw shadows moving within the ship.

Suddenly, three small figures appeared at the top of the ramp.  They were hard to make out because of the light.  All you could see on each one of them were two large eyes, two thin legs, and two eyestalks on the top of their heads.  

As the aliens walked down the ramp, everyone began to see the aliens' features more clearly.  The eyestalks were actually antennae, and each alien had different colored eyes.  The left alien had green eyes, the middle alien had blue eyes, and the right alien had orange eyes.  Also, the aliens had what appeared to be…beaks!  And webbed feet, too!

Kevin crouched down next to Sandy as Katie stood nearby.  "I don't believe it!" whispered Kevin in Sandy's ear.  "They're…alien birds!"

"They look more like ducks to me," whispered Sandy.  "Only, more…alien-like."

Next to Sandy, Courage gasped.  He finally recognized who the aliens were!  It was none other than his alien friends, the Duck Brothers!  The last time he saw them, he had helped two of them save their brother from being cooked in a kitchen.  A smile spread across his face as he remembered how he had used the ducks' mind-control device to save the orange-eyed duck from getting in a stew, literally.  

So, to the shock and surprise of everyone, Courage the cowardly dog quickly, and without warning, walked right up to the green-eyed alien duck and shook its wing!  The stunned onlookers couldn't believe it.  Wasn't Courage scared by these aliens?  He acted like he was greeting old friends (which, technically, he was.)

"Hey, look!" cried the green-eyed duck to his brothers.  "It's the pink dog we met when we last came here!"       

"His name's Courage," muttered the blue-eyed duck.

"I know what his name is.  Stop reminding me."

"Well, you started it."

"Why am I always the one who has to start things?"

"Will you two pipe down?" interrupted the orange-eyed duck. 

"Fine," sighed the green-eyed duck.  He turned back to Courage.  "So, aren't you going to introduce us to your friends?"

Courage looked and saw everyone staring at him and the Duck Brothers.  The agents were the most interested, particularly Agent Barsby.  He was shocked to hear the ducks talking in British accents, much like the Beatles!  

Courage suddenly realized that he was the only one who had met the Duck Brothers before.  Courage quickly glanced at Kevin.  Judging from the look that Courage gave him, Kevin theorized that these aliens were harmless and friendly.  

To get the point across to everyone, Kevin held up his hands to get everyone's attention and said shakily, "It's okay, everyone.  I don't think these aliens will hurt anyone."

"Oh, yeah?" asked Zalost, off to the side.  "Well, what about them?"  He pointed back to the spaceship.

Everyone turned and gasped, except for the Duck Bros.   A group of figures in various shapes and sizes stood at the top of the ramp.  As the group walked down the ramp, Kevin, Katie, Sandy, Shirley, and Zalost wondered who these guys were, since they had never seen them before.

Courage and the agents, on the other hand, knew them all too well.

Standing tall at the bottom of the ramp was Katz.  He seemed a little woozy from the spaceship ride, but he was unharmed.  Behind him stumbled Le Quack, Doc Gerbil, Foot Fungus, Weremole, Cajun Fox, Eustace's Ma, and the Queen of the Black Puddle.

Courage gulped and began shaking in fear.  He had never seen so many villains since Eustace had gathered some of them in his basement and challenged Courage to a very painful game of dodgeball.

The agents were more than a little annoyed by seeing these bad guys again.  "What the heck are you all doing here?!!!" bellowed Agent R.

Katz and the other villains turned in his direction and were surprised to see the agents again.  Ignoring the agents' angered expressions, Katz said coolly, "We were just about to ask you all the same thing."

Before the agents could respond, Doc Gerbil suddenly shouted, "Look!  There's that pink dog again!"

Courage's heart plummeted when all the villains turned and glared at him.

"Let's get him!" yelled Le Quack.  Crying out in agreement, the bad guys began to charge at Courage.

Courage screamed with fright.  Kevin and the agents were alarmed as well.  They didn't want to see those guys hurt Courage.  They were thinking about protecting Courage from these villains.

That thought didn't last long.  Katz and his friends didn't take four steps before they came to a screeching halt.  Their faces showed shock and amazement.  At first, Courage couldn't understand why.

"Huh??" one of the villains said.

"Look at that!" said another one.

"I don't believe it."

"Am I seeing double?"

"There's…two of them!"

That's when Courage realized that Sandy was standing right next to him.  The villains had never seen Sandy before, and she looked a lot like Courage, so they thought they were having double vision or something.

"Who are you?" Katz asked Sandy.  

Sandy was too flabbergasted to respond, so Kevin spoke up instead.  "That's my dog, Sandy."

The villains were obviously caught off guard by this realization.  So much so, that they didn't know what to do next.  They began to murmur to each other and look back and forth between Courage and Sandy.  Obviously, they began jumping to conclusions about the two dogs, but they didn't get a chance to speak their thoughts because Agent R suddenly spoke up.

"Listen!" he announced to the villains, as well as the Duck Bros.  "I know you all are a little…confused at this moment.  Me and my fellow agents are too."  Agent R turned to Gammon, Barsby, and D.M.  They all nodded in agreement and continued to stare at the Duck Bros.  "So, I think it would be a good idea if we ask some questions about where you all are from and how…"

Shouts of protest immediately erupted from the villains.  They were fed up with these agents and they didn't want to be interrogated by them again.  This, of course, led to a heated argument between the agents and the villains.  Feeling left out, Shirley, Zalost, and the Duck Bros. joined in too.

Meanwhile, Sandy held onto Courage as tightly as Katie held onto Kevin.  The four of them were a little frightened by the current fiasco.  

Kevin turned to his little sister and said, "Katie, listen.  I want you to go back into the house and stay with Mom and Dad.  I promise we'll all be inside in a minute.  Can you do that?"

Katie nodded.  She gave her brother a hug and ran back into the house.  Kevin then saw Courage and Sandy looking at him.  Kevin sighed and turned back to the ongoing argument.  Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and screamed, "HEEEEYY!!!" at the top of his lungs.  When he opened his eyes, he saw everybody staring at him.

Kevin pointed to the house and shouted, "Can we please get back to the situation at hand?!"

"Sorry," muttered Agent R.

"What is zees 'situation'?"  asked Le Quack.

"We're trying to find the ghost that…" began Kevin, but Katz interrupted him.

"Now look, my good fellow," threatened Katz as he walked up to Kevin.  "In the last twenty-four hours, we have been vandalized, terrified, and abducted by these alien geese."

"We're ducks!  Duck brothers!  How many times must we tell you that?!" shouted the three aliens, one by one.

"Sorry.  Alien ducks," corrected Katz.  "And my fellow cohorts and I are sick and tired of these nuances.  We are going to go back to the motel right now, and have nothing more to do with these out-of-the-ordinary occurrences."

Courage swallowed a laugh.  What Katz said was ironic, since every time he or any of the other villains tried to capture Courage or Muriel, it was always under unusual circumstances.

Katz saw Courage laughing at himself and thought he was laughing at him.  So he said to Courage, "But we'll be back soon, Dog."  Courage stopped laughing.

As all this was going on, Sandy was thinking.  She was wondering about Leonard Stromwell and his biography.  If he had disappeared, there was a very good chance that he had left the tax money behind in that "secret underground location".  She knew that in order to solve this mystery of why Dr. Stromwell's ghost was here, they would have to go in search for Stromwell's laboratory.  And they would need all the help they could find.

Sandy poked at Kevin's leg to get his attention.  Kevin leaned over as Sandy whispered in his ear.

"You think so?" asked Kevin.  Sandy nodded.

Taking a deep breath, Kevin ran over to the villains.  The villains were already walking away in the distance, so Kevin shouted, "I guess you all won't get a piece of Dr. Stromwell's treasure!!"

The bad guys stopped and turned around.  

"Stromwell?" asked Katz.

"Treasure??!!" shouted everyone else.

"Yeah!  We're searching for treasure!" yelled Kevin.

Agent Darkest Moon leaned into Agent R's ear.  "What treasure?"

"Yeah," agreed Agents Barsby and Gammon.

"He must be talking about the five million dollars that Stromwell hid," whispered Agent R.

Kevin kept yelling to the villains.  "If you'll join all of us in the house, we'll explain everything!  We'll serve cake!"

"Cake?!" exclaimed Doc Gerbil, who was bummed that he didn't get any cake back at the motel.  "Well, why didn't y'all say so!  Outta my way!"  He and the other villains began walking back towards the house.

Kevin walked towards the house too, as did Zalost and Shirley, who were both hungry too.  Courage and the agents ran up to Kevin.

"Why the heck did you do that?" demanded Agent R.

"Yeah, you're bringing those creeps back?" asked Gammon.

Courage also wanted to know why Kevin just invited those creepy characters back.

"Look," explained Kevin to the agents.  "The only way we are ever gonna solve this 'Dr. Stromwell' mystery and end your assignment is if we go and find his secret laboratory and the money.  And trust me, we are gonna need all the help we can get."

The agents looked at each other as they thought it through.

"Well, alright.  We'll let them stay," muttered Agent R.  He saw the villains walk by.  "You guys had better not try anything funny," warned Agent R.

"As long as we get our money's worth, see?" growled the Foot.

"C'mon," said Kevin as he walked to the house.  "The sooner we get everyone settled, the sooner we'll have some answers to all our questions."

The agents sighed.  If they were serious about their job, they wouldn't be taking orders from a teenager.  But it was becoming second nature to them now.

Gammon stayed behind and said to the Duck Bros, "Um, what about that?"  He pointed to the spaceship.  

"Oh, don't worry," said the green-eyed duck.  He brought out a keychain from behind his back and pushed a button on it.  There was a "weep-weep" sound as the entire craft suddenly disappeared.

"Cloaking device," said the green-eyed duck.

"Which I installed," declared the orange-eyed duck.

"Oh, you did not."

"Yes, I did, and you know it.  Don't try to deny it."

"Guys!" interrupted Gammon.  "Who cares about who installed the darn thing?"

"Yeah," agreed the blue-eyed duck.  "You guys keep arguing so much, it…"  The duck began acting like he was in pain.  "…It makes me…have to…"

PLOP.  A yellow egg popped out of the blue duck and rolled on the ground behind him.

"I thought you said you stopped doing that!" argued the green duck.

"I didn't know I was gonna do that," lied the blue duck.

Gammon blurted out, "You guys aren't supposed to do that at all!  You're Duck BROTHERS!"

"Finally!" shouted the blue duck.  "Someone else understands our problem!"

"Hey, guys!" yelled Agent R from the house.  "Are you four gonna come in or not?  And where did the ship go?"

"It's invisible!" answered Gammon.  "And we're coming!"

So, Gammon walked back to the house, engaged in a conversation with the weirdest aliens he had ever met…and the only aliens he had ever met.  (But with the government keeping secrets, who knows?)

Next chapter: Q&A


	19. Q&A

Q&A

It was about 10:00 PM, and Eustace and Muriel's house was becoming quite crowded by now.  Once inside, the villains and the Duck Brothers made a beeline for the kitchen.  Everyone else rested in the living room.  First, however, Kevin decided to relocate his unconscious parents, as well as Eustace and Muriel, to a safer place.  That place turned out to be the upstairs bedroom.  Agents Gammon, Barsby, and Darkest Moon helped carry Mr. Henderson upstairs to the bedroom.  Agent R and Kevin helped carry Mrs. Henderson, while Zalost and Shirley carried Eustace.  "The stupid one is a lot heavier than he looks," groaned Shirley.  Courage picked up Muriel by himself, like he always does from time to time.  You could tell Sandy was impressed by Courage's feat of strength. 

Anyway, Eustace and Muriel were put to bed, while Mr. and Mrs. Henderson lay down on the rug.  Then, everyone walked back down the stairs.  They were all a little bewildered by everything that was going on.  The agents, Kevin, and Katie rested on the sofa and chairs, as Sandy sat on the bottom stair.  Shirley and Zalost seemed reluctant to enter the kitchen, so they decided to wait until the villains were done eating.  Courage peeked into the kitchen as Katz and his friends were still raiding the fridge and cupboards.  Courage walked back over to Sandy and whined.  He was still a little on edge because of those villains, but he felt safe as long as he kept his distance from them.  When Sandy asked what was wrong, Courage decided to tell her about some of his past encounters with the visitors in the kitchen.  Sandy listened with wide eyes as Courage quickly summarized his adventures with Katz and his cohorts.

A moment later, the agents decided to go in the kitchen and check on the bad guys.  They were surprised to see a ruckus going on at the fridge.  Everyone was trying to get at the last piece of leftover roast, except Doc Gerbil, who was eating a slice of cake at the table.  It took Agent R a few tries to get everyone's attention.  When he did, he said, "Could you please form a single-file line in front of the fridge, please?"  Reluctantly, everyone agreed.

Back in the living room, Kevin, Katie, the dogs, Shirley, and Zalost were watching TV. At this hour, all that was on were cop shows and news reports on the local channels.  The minute Kevin clicked off the tube, someone in the kitchen yelled, "FOODFIGHT!"  Everyone got up in time to see food and items flying around the kitchen by both villains and agents.

D.M. stumbled out of the war and into Kevin.

"What's going on?" asked Kevin.

D.M. got up and said, "Apparently, Gammon and that orange fox with the glasses got into an argument about the best stew ingredients or something.  Then, one thing led to another…"

Kevin sighed and stomped into the kitchen in time to see Agent R banging on a pot with a spoon and shouting for everyone to go into the living room.  Slowly, everyone grabbed a towel and wiped themselves clean as they headed for the living room.

Agent R turned and saw Doc Gerbil finishing up his cake.  "I'm comig," he said with his mouth full.

Two minutes later, everyone was seated around the living room.  The question-and-answer session was about to begin.  The villains were in one corner of the room, either sitting on the floor or leaning against the wall.  Shirley and Zalost sat on the stairs.  Kevin, Katie, Courage, and Sandy sat on the couch.  The Duck Brothers sat on the armchair, and the agents stood and walked around the room.  

"So, where is this treasure?" asked Katz before anyone could speak.  As a response, Agent R proudly held up the printed copies of Dr. Stromwell's biography and handed them to the villains and the Duck Bros.  After a minute, Le Quack said, "Zees does not say where this, how you say, Stromwell character lived."  The other villains agreed. 

"That's why we're still here," said Barsby with a smug look on his face.

"Well, we're not leaving either, see?" argued Foot Fungus.

"Not until we get our hands on that treasure," replied Katz.  Foot Fungus coughed as Katz realized he'd said a poor choice of words in front of Foot Fungus, and quickly apologized.

"Treasure doesn't interest us," said the green duck.

"But I like going on treasure hunts!" said the blue duck.

"Yes," admitted the green duck.  "Searching for treasure is more fun for us than the treasure itself, especially with others."

"What a bunch of quacks," whispered Cajun Fox to the Weremole, who chuckled quietly. 

Everything was quiet for a few moments. 

"So," said Kevin, breaking the ice.  "Who's going first?"

"Why don't you go first?" asked Katz, eyeing Kevin.  "My friends and I are most curious as to who you are and how you fit into all this."  The agents, Zalost, and Shirley were curious as well.

So, Kevin told them all about his family's previous adventure with Courage (which I'm sure you're all familiar with by now), everything from the founders of Nowhere to the labyrinth under the town.  All the listeners were astounded by the story and how much detail Kevin included in it.  Hard to believe it only happened almost a month ago.  Kevin decided to keep Sandy's relationship with Courage as nondescript as possible while telling the story, much to their relief.  Still, some of the listeners had the feeling that it was more serious than Kevin described, but they didn't say anything about it.  

When Kevin was done, Shirley and some of the villains spoke up saying that they'd heard about that sand vortex Kevin had talked about, but they never knew what it was.

Then it was the agents' turn.  Katz asked them flat out who they were and why they were here.

"Alright," announced Agent R.  "My name is Agent R and these are my partners, Agents Gammon, Barsby, and Darkest Moon.  We have been sent by our superior to investigate this town and its bizarre events."

"Well, be prepared for a long wait," said Le Quack.

"Yeah," agreed Doc Gerbil.  "There's so much freaky stuff going on in this here town it'll take y'all yer whole lives just to catalog 'em."

"So, that's it?" asked Kevin.  "No 'hidden agenda' or anything?"

"Of course not," replied Agent R.

"Then why aren't you acting like the agents you're supposed to be?" asked Shirley.

"For your information," snapped Gammon.  "The four of us will be leaving our secret agent profession once this assignment is finished."

The villains were definitely pleased by this news, but Katz said, "How do we know you're not going to give this assignment to your superior anyway?  Because we certainly can't allow you to do that."

Agent R didn't want to get into another quarrel with these guys, so he said, "We'll send in a fake assignment, okay?  Happy?  And since you're so talkative, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourselves?"

The villains would not say anything about their pasts, except that they had met "that stupid dog" several times before.  Sandy got angry by that remark, and to everyone's surprise, the villains seemed to back down from her!  Kevin calmed Sandy down and asked how they had gotten into the Duck Brother's space ship.  The villains explained the events of last night (from chapter 13) and went on to say that they had woken up on the Duck Brother's ship.  The Duck Brothers cut in and explained that it was all a big mistake and had apologized before.  The villains, being so stubborn, got into an argument with them right then, saying things like, "You could have kept us in better places than in tanks of water," and, "Don't make us sic the weremole on you again."  (The full story of what happened on the ship will be written in an extra chapter once this story is completed.)

The agents calmed everyone down yet again.  D.M. said, "And that's when you all crashed here, correct?"  Everyone nodded.  "Okay.  Who's next?"

"How about you two?" asked Agent R in the direction of Zalost and Shirley.  All eyes were on them as Agent R said to Shirley, "Why don't we start with you, um…"

"Shirley," she said.

"Right, Shirley."

"Well," began Shirley as she got to her feet.  "I know all about this town's long history of strange and unusual occurrences.  I have done extensive research on the town of Nowhere.  For instance, I already knew about the story of the town's founders, but, thanks to Kevin's story, I now have a clearer understanding of them.  That is one reason why I became a medium.  To understand and experience these events firsthand!  Many people, including Courage have come to me seeking help and guidance.  I…"

"Get to the point, please," said Katz impatiently.

Shirley glared at Katz as she continued.  "My crystal ball can pick up these abnormal occurrences, and I decide if they're of any interest to me.  Late last night, my crystal ball detected the ghost of Leonard Stromwell, who has no doubt returned."

"Yes," spoke up Dr. Zalost.  "I was awakened that night by a strange dream.  I was walking through a hall of statues and suddenly, in front of me, one of them came to life!  I recognized it as Stromwell himself.  I know because us doctors have always been interested in other area doctors.  Anyway, I asked the statue why he was coming to life.  It answered, 'because I have returned!'  That's when I woke up.  The next morning, I went over to Shirley's gypsy wagon and together, we spent the entire day looking for information about Stromwell."

"Unfortunately," said Shirley, who had been reading Stromwell's bio.  "We didn't learn much besides what was on this paper."  She waved the bio in the air.

"Okay," said Kevin, who got to his feet.  "We all know why we're here now.  So…"

"Uh, actually," said the green duck.  "There's no real reason why we're here, except to help out."

"Yes," agreed the blue duck as the orange duck nodded.  "Space can get kind of boring after all."

"Uh-huh.  As I was saying," said Kevin.  "Despite the fact that we're all here, there are still questions that need to be answered.  For example, how could Leo Stromwell and his wife simply disappear from Nowhere without a trace?  How could he reappear again in San Francisco five years later and why?  And what about this document that Agent R found?"   Kevin lifted up the paper.  "It says, 'I've done it!  The gateway is open!'  What does that mean?"

"Well, I don't know about those questions," replied Katz coolly.  "But there is only one question me and my fellow evil doers are concerned with: Where is Dr. Stromwell's treasure?"

All was silent for a moment.  Then, as Kevin was about to tell Katz to shut up and stop asking that question, a loud, deep, ancient voice pierced the silence:

"I believe I…can answer that question."

Everyone stopped and whirled around to the source of the sound.  Katie shrieked and grabbed Sandy and Courage, who were holding onto each other in fear.  Kevin and everyone else in the room slowly got to their feet, their eyes getting wider by the second.

Standing a full one foot, eight inches in front of the open basement door, was Mr. Furry…who was the physical embodiment of the spirit known only as Dr. Leo Stromwell. 


	20. Riddles

"Riddles"

A heavy, unnatural silence hung in the air.  No one spoke or even breathed as the seconds ticked by.  Everyone tried to think of something to say, but they were all silent.  A child's teddy bear coming to life, thanks to the supernatural power of a ghost, is enough to make anyone rigid with fear.

Kevin was the first one to speak.  "D-Dr. Stromwell?  What have you done to my parents?"

When Leonard Stromwell spoke, the bear didn't make any facial expressions except the one, simple look upon his face.  He could move around as much as he pleased though.  Mr. Furry waved a paw as Dr. Stromwell said, "Do not fear, Kevin.  They will all wake up when the sun rises.  It's merely a spell I picked up from a very famous magician."

Kevin smirked.  "Who, Merlin?"

Stromwell's voice sounded surprised.  "Very good, Kevin!  Katie's told me quite a bit about your gifted mind."   

Unimpressed by the comment, Kevin looked at Agent R, who said, "How do you know Merlin the magician?"

Stromwell sighed.  "When you've spent as much time as I have on the other side, you tend to pick up little things like that."

The initial shock of the spirit was beginning to wear off for everyone, but they were still very nervous.  

"Other side?" asked Katz.  

"Of course!" spoke up Stromwell.  Mr. Furry waved his arms in the air.  "Where else do you think I've been for those five unaccounted years?"

"I knew it!" proclaimed Agent R.  "The gateway you talked about is really…"

"A portal," interrupted Stromwell.  "It has been my life's work!  My ultimate dream!  To open a doorway to the afterlife!"

"What for?" asked Doc Gerbil.

"What for??!!" exclaimed Stromwell.  "I'll tell you what for!  Ever since I was a lad, I was fascinated by where we go after we pass away.  It was only after college that I started taking it seriously.  I came to this very town in order to keep my obsession secret.  I even took up a job as a mild-mannered doctor, as you can see in those pathetic little bios you're holding."

"And you succeeded in finding a doorway, correct?" asked Shirley.

"Yes, but Abigail and myself became trapped inside.  I eventually managed to escape from the realm of spirits, but in a fit of anger, someone far more evil than me retaliated."

"What?" asked Kevin, confused.

"I'm sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself," apologized Stromwell.  Mr. Furry's paw pressed against its forehead as if to show embarrassment.  He turned to Kevin and said, "I'm also sorry I gave you the wrong impression of being evil.  All of you.  My excitement of being free from my dead body as well as my sometimes mischievous nature must've been a frightening ordeal for all of you."

Katz now knew why Stromwell's ghost had been messing around his motel.  All for fun!  He wasn't very pleased by this information.  

Courage remembered when Mr. Furry whacked him in the nose a couple nights ago.  Stromwell must not have liked being picked up.  

Stromwell continued.  "When I entered the body of this bear, I began holding conversations with Katie.  She was startled at first, but we began talking like we were best friends.  She needed one, y'know."  Kevin was about to protest, but Stromwell said, "But I know that you and Katie have patched things up since then."

"This is all very interesting," announced Katz sarcastically.  "But we would like to know the whereabouts of your treasure, if you don't mind."

"Yeah," said the other bad guys.

Stromwell said nothing for a moment.  He knew darn well that Katz and his cohorts wanted the treasure all for themselves.  He also knew that these agents reminded him of the government agents that had tried to take his money in the first place.  Fortunately, he knew deep down that these four agents were not going to divulge his information.  

"So what was it like on the other side?" asked D.M.

"Who is this thing that you said was more evil than you?" asked Zalost to the side.

"And what happened to your wife, Abigail?" asked Barsby.

Amidst all these questions, Stromwell finally knew what to do.  Mr. Furry held up his paws and said, "All in good time, my friends!  I realize now that you all must come to my secret underground laboratory.  Once you are all there, I will tell you where the treasure is right after you all do me a quick favor."

Some started asking what the favor was, but Stromwell spoke up again.  "Now listen.  There are four secret ways to enter my lab.  They are hidden and slightly dangerous to traverse, but I have created a riddle for each to help me remember where each entrance is.  Are you ready to write them down?"

Agent R got out a tape recorder as the other three agents used the back of the bios to write down the riddles.

"Ready?  Here is the first riddle."  Agent R pushed the play button.  "At midnight, when the North Star's high…watch it through the rooster's eye…Standing with a rose and wreath…you'll find the doorway underneath…But heed my words once you are in…for the rushing waters will begin."

"What does that mean?" asked Katie.

"My dear Katie," said Stromwell.  "Riddles are meant for one to say and for the listeners to find out.  Now, riddle number two:  When the red flag's waving high…planks of wood will fall nearby…They will point across the street…to a ladder 'neath your feet…Look for pepper without pep…And watch out for your very last step."

"This is most enjoyable," said the green duck brother.

"Yeah," said the little toe on the Foot Fungus.  The big toe knocked the little toe again, via the other toes.  "OW, what I say?  What I say?"

"Now, riddle number three," announced Stromwell.  "In the window, high above…a souvenir, a simple glove…points the way to NYC…and underneath, a tapestry…Tear it off and once inside...be prepared to slip and slide."

"What is zees 'window?'" asked Le Quack.

"SSSHHH!" said everyone.

"Thank you," said Stromwell.  "Now, the last riddle and fourth way into my lab:  Where the water heater waits…lays a pile of empty crates…Beyond that lays the hidden path…that's led me to my pain and wrath…Beware of the sand that's quick…and look for hands that turn and tick."

"There's one last thing I need to ask," said Agent R, for he had a feeling that Stromwell would leave again once he was through.  "Where is your house?  The one that you lived in when you were living in Nowhere?"

"Ah, yes," laughed Stromwell.  "A search is no good without a place to start.  In that case, my house is still standing a half a mile north of Nowhere.  It's the big Victorian house, you can't miss it.  So, pay attention to the riddles, and I'll see you in my lab."

"Wait!" said Kevin, but it was too late.  The teddy bear fell over on its face, proof that Dr. Stromwell had left the bear and traveled back     

Katie slowly got up and walked over to Mr. Furry.  Cautiously, she walked over and scooped up the bear in her hands.  Kevin got up and came up behind his sister.

"He's gone," said Katie.

"Did you get all the riddles down?" asked Shirley to the agents.

"Yep," said Agent R.  "Now, everyone?"  Everyone turned and looked at the agent.  "One of the riddles says to look for the North Star at midnight.  According to my watch, it's 11:50 PM, so I suggest we get moving.  Let's go!"

As everyone walked out of the house, Katie groaned and held her head.

"What's wrong?" asked Kevin.

"I'm…so tired," yawned Katie.

"You've been through a lot," said Kevin affectionately.  "And it's real late too.  Why don't you go sleep in the basement where it's safe?"

"The basement?  Alone?" asked Katie with wide eyes.

"Don't worry," reassured Kevin.  "Mom and Dad are upstairs.  And there'll be no sand vortexes to get you this time."  At least I hope not, Kevin thought to himself.

At the door of the basement, Katie held up her bear.  "What about Mr. Furry?" she asked.

Kevin smiled.  "I've got a feeling that Mr. Furry isn't gonna be an 'evil' chatterbox anymore."

Katie smiled weakly.  She felt confident that her big brother was telling the truth.  "See you in the morning," she said.  Katie gave Kevin and Sandy a big hug as she walked down the steps and closed the door behind her.  Kevin and Sandy then walked out of the house, locking the door behind them.

Three vehicles zoomed through the town of Nowhere.  

Leading the way was a government-issued recreational vehicle.  Agent Barsby was driving while D.M. sat with the villains.  There was barely any bickering or arguing on the way over, not as long as D.M. held that bat in her hands.  Besides, the underground laboratory and treasure were the main things on everybody's mind.  Behind it was the Henderson's station wagon.  Driving it was Agent R.  Kevin was in the passenger seat with Courage sitting in his lap, as Sandy, Shirley the medium, and Eustace's Ma sat in the rear.  Ma kept blabbering about her lazy son all through the trip, which put a smile on the other passengers' faces.  The third vehicle was Eustace's truck.  Gammon was struggling to drive it, as Zalost kept telling him how to drive it correctly.  Gammon said he was doing just fine until he ran into a ditch ("Stupid stickshift!")  Zalost ended up driving the rest of the way.  The Duck Brothers, by the way, were sitting in the back of the truck, trying not to get motion sickness.

The vehicles followed the vague directions as best they could.  Finally, after driving a short distance northward, away from the town, a tall building could be seen beside the road.  Even from a distance it made Courage whine with worry.

It was a century-old Victorian house.  It was elaborately decorated with wooden ornaments and had a dark blue hue to it all.  It looked dark and foreboding, especially at night.  Surrounding the house were gardens and a white picket fence.  The mailbox read "L. Stromwell" and looked like it had been out of service for a very long time.  

The vehicles parked across the street, everyone slowly filed out and crossed the street.  All eyes were on the house.  It loomed over the visitors like a giant creature ready to swallow.  Courage shivered with fright and held onto Sandy's paw.

"OK," said Agent R.  "The way we're gonna do this is if we all split up and go through each entrance."

"How come?" someone asked.

Agent R sighed.  "So that we can see if all the passageways lead to the same place!  Now, here's how it'll work.  We'll split up into four groups of five.  Each one will get a different riddle and follow the instructions.  If all goes well, we should all arrive in the lab."

"And get the treasure," added Cajun Fox.

"…yes.  And get the treasure," muttered Agent R.  "Now then, the first group will solve the 'North Star' riddle.  That will be me, Katz, Le Quack, Doc Gerbil, and Foot…thing."

"I'm a Fungus, see?" responded Foot Fungus.

"Going with the 'heavy-hitters', huh?" laughed Agent Gammon.

Agent R turned to Gammon.  "Okay, just for that, I'm partnering you with Zalost and the Duck Brothers."

"Aww, why do I gotta get stuck with the alien ducks?" whined Gammon.     

"Get used to it," said Agent R, who gave a paper with a riddle on it to Gammon.  "You're gonna solve the 'red flag' riddle."

Gammon muttered something under is his breath as Agent R walked over to Barsby.  "What was that?" asked Agent R over his shoulder.

"I said, 'Man, I can't wait…which chipmunk?"

"…Right," said Agent R, rolling his eyes.  He turned to Agent Barsby.  "You, Barsby, are gonna solve the 'window' riddle with Eustace's Ma, Cajun Fox, the Weremole, and the Queen of the Black Puddle."

Barsby gulped.  He wasn't crazy about any of his new partners at all.  The Queen almost did him off during his interview, and he shuddered to think what would happen if the Weremole bit him.  But, he took a deep breath and said, "Sure thing, Agent R."

Finally, Agent R turned to D.M. and Kevin.  "You two will take Shirley, Courage, and Sandy to go solve the 'water heater' riddle."

D.M. and Kevin looked at each other.  "Okay," said Kevin and D.M. to Agent R.

"Alright then," said Kevin as his watch struck midnight.  "Let's, split up gang!"  (Yeah, I know, Scooby Doo parody.  Like you didn't see it coming.)   


	21. Agent R, Katz, Le Quack, Doc Gerbil, and...

"Agent R, Katz, Le Quack, Doc Gerbil, and Foot Fungus"

"So," said Agent R, as he eyed his temporary partners suspiciously.  

"So, what?" asked Doc Gerbil.

"Well," continued Agent R.  "I guess I should be flattered to be teaming up with the very same critters who scared me out of wits last time I saw you."  There was a heavy sense of sarcasm in that comment.

"It was your own fault," argued Katz.  "You and your fellow agents were getting too nosy."

"Yeah," agreed the others.

"Oh, sure, just blame it all on me, huh?" snapped Agent R.

"It seems (how you say) appropriate," said Le Quack.

"Yeah," agreed Foot Fungus.

"Well then," remarked Agent R.  "I guess the only thing I can say now is that the sooner we get this over with, the sooner you all can get the treasure and get outta here, correct?"

"Works for me," said Doc Gerbil.

"Fine!" shouted Agent R.  "So…c'mon."

The group started walking around the perimeter of the property.  There was a forest of bushes and weeds everywhere.  They had to walk very carefully to keep from tripping into the shrubbery.  Foot Fungus turned out to be blessing, since he could easily smash any plant in his path.

"What did that there riddle say, again?" asked Foot Fungus.

"Oh, so NOW you're asking me for my help," retorted Agent R.

"Will you just read it??!!" exclaimed Katz.

"Alright!  Alright.  Sheesh," responded Agent R.  He took out the tape recorder he had used to record Dr. Stromwell's voice.  Agent R had worried about whether a ghost would even be heard on tape at all, but, to his luck, it did.

"At midnight, when the North Star's high…"  

Agent R stopped the tape as Doc Gerbil and Foot Fungus asked where the North Star was.

"It's right there," said Katz as he pointed up above the house.

"Which one?" asked Le Quack.

"You guys see the Big Dipper?" asked Agent R, who motioned his hands in the air.  Everyone saw it.  "Now," continued Agent R.  "See up above it that little cluster of stars?  That's the Little Dipper."  Everyone oohed and aahed (ok, they didn't really, but they could've.)  "And that star right there in the corner of the Little Dipper is the North Star."

"So, how does this tie in with the riddle?" asked Doc Gerbil.

"Well," Agent R looked at his watch.  "It's almost midnight now, and so we need to…um…"  Agent R turned the tape recorder on again.

"…watch it through the rooster's eye…"

"Right," said Agent R as he stopped the tape.  "Any idea where we could find a rooster?"  No one said anything.

Katz finally sighed, "It's right there in the open, you ninnies."

Everyone looked to where Katz was pointing.  High above on the roof of the house stood a large, immobile, rooster-shaped weathervane.

"Very observant, Katz," said Agent R.  "Now all we need to do is position ourselves so that the North Star can be seen through the eye of the rooster!  My guess is that we should be somewhere right next to the house."

The group meandered around the perimeter of the house until finally they saw the star through a small hole in the weathervane.  They were standing in front of the back steps of the house.  The backyard behind them acted like a careful observer to the five visitors standing on the back walk.

"OK, what now?" asked Foot Fungus.

"…Standing with a rose and wreath…you'll find the doorway underneath…" said the voice from the tape player.

"What could that mean?" asked Doc Gerbil.

Then everyone saw it.  Hanging on the backdoor of the house was an elaborate stick wreath.  It was simply-made, with sticks and vines.  And in the center of the wreath hung a single white rose.

"…That must be it!" responded Doc Gerbil, not too intelligently.

As the group gathered in front of the back door, Le Quack said, "Well, zat was easy."

"Too easy, of you ask me," murmured Agent R.

"Oh, c'mon, just open the door already!" whined Foot Fungus.

"But the riddle said the 'doorway underneath'!" argued Agent R.

"I say!" said Katz with surprise.  "Why is there a doorbell for the back door of this house?"

Katz suddenly reached out and pushed the button.

Instead of a doorbell ringing, the floor underneath everyone suddenly gave way!  The five detectives fell about twenty feet into a pile of hay.  

Everyone struggled to their feet and looked through the square of light coming through the trapdoor.

Agent R turned to Katz, "You knew it was going to do that, didn't you?"

"Honestly," said Katz, pretending to sound hurt.  "If I did, I would've gotten out of the way."

Agent R couldn't argue with that logic.

Le Quack muttered, "I guess it eez true what zey say about cats and curiosity."

"I heard that!" snapped Katz.

"Hey, hey, hey," said peacemaker Agent R.  "We have a treasure to find, remember?"

Foot Fungus coughed.  "Well, all I can find is that water faucet to be annoying, see?"  
Everyone stopped.  There was a dripping sound coming from the wall.  They all turned and saw a water spigot dripping water on the wall.

"C'mon," said Agent R, who played the last part of the riddle.

"…But heed my words once you are in…for the rushing waters will begin."

"Ha!" retorted Doc Gerbil, who walked over to the water spigot.  "Some 'rushing waters'.  Heh-heh.  'Heed my words,' he says.  Well, heed this!"

Without warning, Doc Gerbil kicked the water spigot.  Everyone immediately thought Doc Gerbil would grab his injured foot and start hopping around in pain.  Instead, the water spigot detached itself effortlessly from the wall, causing a huge shower of water to come gushing out of the wall and into the room.  The blast knocked Doc Gerbil clear off his feet!

And that wasn't all.  As if on cue, water started pouring into the room for other locations as well!

For the next few minutes, everyone was running around, trying to find a way out.  The trap door looked like the only way out, but it had slammed shut when the spigot was kicked.  Thin slivers of light outlining the trap door provided the only light.

Katz was having a miserable time trying to stay dry and eventually gave up when the room started filling with water.  In a way, it was gratifying for Agent R to hear Katz yelling at others to get him out of here. 

Foot Fungus was also having a miserable time.  He couldn't swim very well (for obvious reasons) and the water seemed like it could do some harm to him as well.  (Remember, from the episode, dog drool was the only way to get rid of him.)

Meanwhile, Le Quack sat comfortably on the surface of the water as everybody else prepared themselves to start treading water.  Some of them grabbed at Le Quack, thinking they could use him as a floatation device, but Le Quack would always swim away.   

Finally, Agent R screamed "LOOK!!!"  Everyone turned and saw a doorway way up on the wall (from the ceiling to the wall's halfway point.)  

"How do we get up there?!" shouted Foot Fungus.

"We'll have to wait until the water gets higher!" yelled Agent R.

So, with Foot Fungus struggling to keep his heads above water, the water kept rising until Agent R pulled himself up into the doorway.  Everyone soon followed.  

Everyone was a wet, shivering mess by now.  Katz was frantically licking himself as Doc Gerbil took off shirt to wring the water out of it.  Only Le Quack came out the driest.  He was just about to make a remark about him being the driest when everyone suddenly felt water creeping into the doorway!  The water was still coming!

"Now what??!!" cried out Doc Gerbil.

Agent R didn't have a clue what to do.

"Hmmm, I wonder…" pondered Katz as he stared at a strange, stone device on the wall.  It was shaped like a toilet handle.  Katz pushed the handle down.  Almost at once, there was a long, continuous "whoosh" sound from inside the room.  A whirlpool appeared and the water level dropped until there was barely any left.

"Well," said Le Quack.  "Too bad zee riddle did not mention scuba gear.  Hoo hoo hoo."

Everyone just glared at Le Quack's rare attempt at humor.

"C'mon," said Agent R, as he headed down the dark, stone hallway.  He started shivering as he said, "There's a light up ahead.  Maybe we can dry off over there!"

"I certainly hope so," chattered Doc Gerbil.  Him, Katz, and Foot Fungus were all bitterly cold by this point, and they hoped they could dry themselves off as quickly as possible.

"American swines," thought Le Quack to himself as he followed the frigid detectives down the hall towards the light. 


	22. Gammon, Zalost, and the Duck Brothers

"Gammon, Zalost, and the Duck Brothers"

Agent Gammon's initial plan to solve their group's riddle didn't work.

Since their riddle talked about a ladder across the street, Gammon instructed Zalost and the Duck Brothers to start searching on the other side of the road for anything that looked like a ladder.

It wasn't until Zalost spoke up that Gammon realized his mistake.  

"Excuse me, Gammon," said Zalost.

"Hmm?" asked Gammon.

"Well, why are we looking for a ladder now?  Doesn't the riddle tell us to look for a red flag first?"

"Yeah, but don't you think it'd be easier and quicker to skip ahead a little?"

"Not really," answered Zalost.  "Normally one pays attention to the entire riddle in order to get it right."

Gammon thought about that for a moment.  "That's a good a point," he said finally.

The Duck Brothers ran over to Gammon and said that they found a ladder, but it was only a stepladder that someone threw away in an alley.  So, the group walked back across the street and looked at it.

"Does anyone see the red flag?" squawked the orange duck. 

"I don't see any red flag anywhere!" said the green duck.

"It would help if everything wasn't so blue," said the blue duck.  (Since their eyes are different colors, their vision has a different colored tint to it.)

"What are you complaining about?" asked the green duck to the blue duck.

"I'm not complaining!" answered the blue duck.  "I just think it would help if we saw a better picture of everything!"

"Why don't you try…?"

"Oh, stop telling me what to do!"

"HEY!" shouted Gammon.  "Could we please get back to the riddle?"  In a frustrated mood, Gammon leaned back against the mailbox.

"I agree," agreed Zalost.  "I think…"

Zalost stopped.  He and the Duck Brothers stared oddly at Gammon.

"What?" asked Gammon uncomfortably.  "Is there a Chinese or Soviet flag behind me?" (Since both flags are red.)

"No," said Zalost.  Was it Gammon's imagination or was he trying to hide a smile?  "But…what's that on your shoulder?"

Gammon looked at his shoulder.  "There's nothing on it."

"No," said Zalost.  He was definitely smiling now.  "I mean, on the mailbox beside your shoulder."

"Oh," said Gammon.  "It's only the…"

Gammon stopped and stared.  Right next to his shoulder, in the down position, was the mailbox's little red flag.

Gammon turned back to Zalost.  "How long did you know it was there?"

"Since we came back across the street."

"Why didn't you tell me then?...and don't say 'because you didn't ask'!"

"I just wanted to have a little fun, that's all," laughed Zalost.  "It's been so long."

"…I'd rather have preferred 'because you didn't ask'," sighed Gammon.  On instinct, he flipped up the flag.

Seconds later, a 'whack-whack' sound was heard.  Everyone turned and stared.  Two of the planks from the picket fence had fallen onto the sidewalk!

Gammon looked at the riddle on the piece of paper.  "When the red flag's waving high…planks of wood will fall nearby…They will point across the street…to a ladder under your feet!"  Gammon gasped, "This is it!  We're on the right track!  All we gotta do is walk across the street in the direction of the planks and we find the ladder!  C'mon!"

Once again, they all crossed the street.  On the sidewalk, they stopped and looked down.  All that was there was a closed manhole.

"Jackpot," whispered Gammon.

It took quite a bit of effort to remove the manhole cover, but eventually the five detectives climbed down the metal rungs of the ladder into the sewer below.

They ended up in a dark, damp, smelly tunnel.  Luckily, this part of the Nowhere sewer system appeared to be dried up.

There was some writing on the adjacent wall.  Gammon grabbed a pocket flashlight and shown it on the wall.  It read: "Top sewage speed: 20 miles per hour."  But someone had scratched out all the words except the word "per" and drawn a big arrow pointing to the right.

"That's it!" proclaimed Gammon.  "Look for pepper without pep!  From the riddle!  Don't you see?  If you take the word 'pep' out of the word 'pepper', you wind up with 'per'!  We're on the right track!"

"Good," said the blue duck in a nasal voice, since he was holding his nose.  "The sooner we follow the arrow, the sooner we don't have to smell this horrible stench."

"I concur," said Zalost.

So, they traveled down the tunnel.  The more they traveled the darker it got, but thanks to Gammon's flashlight, they had plenty of light to lead the way.

"How far do we have to walk?" asked the blue duck.

As they turned a corner, Gammon shined the light back at his partners.  "I don't know.  All the riddle says is to watch out for your last STEP!!!"

Upon saying the word "step", Gammon's foot stepped on nothing but air.  For a few horrible seconds, the group walked off a ledge and fell a few feet below into a pool of foul water.  

The Duck Brothers managed to stay on the surface of the water, but Zalost couldn't swim.  He grabbed onto the ducks and Gammon in order to stay afloat.  Gammon looked up and saw an object poking out of the wall.  He reached up and grabbed it.  With a "Ka-chunk", the object swung down and stopped.

As soon as Gammon realized that he had just pulled some kind of lever, a pipe opened up nearby and the bewildered group slid down the long and winding water pipe, all the while wondering where the heck they were going.


	23. Barsby, Cajun Fox, Weremole, Queen, and ...

"Barsby, Cajun Fox, Weremole, Queen, and Ma"

"Okay.  Here's the deal."

Agent Barsby had lined up his four partners and was pacing back and forth in front of them like a first-time drill sergeant.  His companions had their arms crossed and were looking aggravated as always.  It was obvious they didn't like being talked to like this.

Fortunately, Barsby decided to keep his speech brief.  "All we're gonna do is solve our riddle.  That's it.  Whatever you guys do next is up to you, okay?"

"You mean we have to listen to you until then?" asked Eustace's Ma.

"Yeah," said Barsby, who had authority finally returning to his voice.

"Aw," groaned Cajun Fox.  "We don't have to listen to you.  We can solve this riddle ourselves.  We don't need some government weirdo with a British accent telling us what to do."  The other villains agreed.

"Oh, and where did you get your accent?  New Orleans?" snapped Barsby.  He turned to all his partners.  "Listen, do you all want to find this lab or don't you?  You don't need to find the treasure with me if you don't want to.  I'm just saying it'll be a heck of a lot easier with everyone going at the same time."

Everyone sighed and grumbled.

Barsby turned to Eustace's Ma.  "You know, I could wake up that stupid boy of yours.  I'm sure he'll be glad to come with us to search for the treas-…"

"Awright, awright, we'll go!" said Ma finally.

"Thank you, ma'am," said Barsby.  He looked at the Weremole, who growled at him, and then at the Queen of the Black Puddle, who frowned slightly at him.  Then Barsby turned to Cajun Fox and said, "Must you wear those sunglasses?"

Cajun Fox abruptly took them off and showed Barsby his hideously bulging eyeballs.

"…I guess you do," muttered Barsby as Cajun Fox put his shades back on.

"Can we go already?" asked the Queen impatiently.

"Right," said Barsby.  He quickly took out the riddle and looked at it.  "It says, 'in the window high above.'"  

Everyone looked up at the house.  Way at the very top of the house was a small, round window.

"I'll bet that's the attic!" exclaimed Barsby.  "C'mon!  Let's go!"  Seeing nothing else to do, the villains reluctantly followed.

Agent Darkest Moon had already opened the front door.  When Barsby and his group looked inside, they were greeted by a dark, dusty environment, filled with cobwebs and dust bunnies.  There was very little furniture in the house.  A mass of foot and pawprints could be seen on the dirty ground.  D.M.'s group looked like they were heading for the basement.

A giant staircase loomed before the visitors.  That's where we need to go, thought Barsby.

They ascended the stairs.  The Weremole sneezed when they reached the top.  Down another hall, there was another staircase.  They would climb one more staircase before they came to a door.  Everyone stopped to catch their breath before they turned the door.

"If it's another staircase, I'm quitting," admitted Ma.

Fortunately, they arrived in a large room that was filled with junk.

"This must be the attic," said Barsby.

"You think?" asked Cajun Fox, rolling his eyes behind his shades.

"C'mon," said Barsby.  "Let's look for 'a glove that points the way to New York'." 

For several minutes, everyone looked around the room.  Several leads turned up nothing.  The weremole found a garden glove, but it didn't point anywhere, so it became his own personal chew toy.  The Queen found an empty box of Hamburger Helper.  It had a glove on it, but it was no clue.  Cajun Fox held up a ripped bag with the Arby's logo on it.  "Don't they have a baking glove as their new spokesman?" Cajun Fox had said. Needless to say, it wasn't much of a clue. 

Finally, Ma shouted, "Over here!  I found it!"

"What now?" sighed Barsby.  

He found Ma pointing at a pair of boxing gloves on top of a trunk.  Barsby followed where the gloves were pointing and saw a poster with the New York skyline on it.

As they walked towards the poster, Barsby read more of the riddle.  "Underneath, a tapestry…tear it off and once inside...be prepared to slip and slide."

Barsby looked under the poster and saw an old, medieval tapestry attached to the wall, almost as if to hide something.

"Wow, this is easier than I thought," said Barsby.

"Well, what are you waiting for?  Rip it off!" said Ma.

"Yeah," agreed everybody else.

Barsby abruptly tore the tapestry away from the wall.  In its place was a large hole in the wall.  In the hole was a small, half-pipe slide that curved downward and sharply to the right.

"What is it?" asked Cajun Fox, as everyone leaned forward for a closer look.

"It looks like some sort of slide," said Barsby.  "I think…WHOA!"

Without warning, Barsby slipped and fell on the floor.  The ground in front of the hole had been covered by a slippery substance, like laundry fluid or axel grease.  When Barsby slipped, he crashed into his partners.  Ma had slipped into the slide, and she reached back behind her to stop herself.  She grabbed onto the weremole, who grabbed onto Cajun Fox, who grabbed onto the Queen, who grabbed hold of Barsby.  The five detectives all slid down the slide one after the other.

For a while, the slide kept going down and to the right, like a corkscrew.  Then, eventually, it straightened out and entered another tunnel.  This one had water flowing through it.

Barsby and his gang were now sliding down a water-filled tunnel with barely any light.  Everyone gasped for air as they continued yelling and screaming.


	24. Darkest Moon, Kevin, Shirley, Sandy, and...

"Darkest Moon, Kevin, Shirley, Sandy, and Courage"

The front door of the house slowly creaked open.

Agent Darkest Moon entered first.  She wasn't surprised by the unkempt nature of the house.  She'd seen enough TV shows to know that whenever a scary-looking house stood in the middle of nowhere (or at least the outskirts), it was going to look really dark and spooky inside.

Kevin came in next.  He stood next to D.M. and marveled at the dustiness of the surroundings.  Kevin coughed.  He hoped his sinuses wouldn't be too much of a problem in here.

Shirley, Sandy, and Courage came in last.  They were a little apprehensive about this place.  Courage shivered slightly from the drop in temperature.  Sandy held his paw and gave Courage a look that told him not to worry.

Shirley, seeing the obvious connections between the two dogs, closed the door behind her.

SLAM!

Courage cried out as D.M. and Kevin spun around.

"Sorry," apologized Shirley.

"Shhh," whispered Kevin.  "C'mon."  He began walking toward a door.

"Where are we going?" asked D.M.

Kevin said, "The riddle began, 'where the water heater waits.'  Since the only room I can think of that would hold a water heater is the basement, we should look for a door that leads down to the basement."

The group walked around the ground floor looking for a door that open up to a flight of stairs leading downward.  D.M. and Kevin took the "left wing" of the house while the others went down the "right wing."

"Hey," said Kevin.  "How come you carry that thing with you all the time?" 

D.M. realized Kevin was looking at her baseball bat.  "Well, it comes in handy sometimes."

"Yeah," said Kevin.  "I had a baseball bat once."

"Really?"

"Yep.  It's probably stuck somewhere in the stuff back…uh, wherever we go."

D.M. nodded.  She had forgotten that Kevin's family had been evicted from their apartment.

"Sorry," D.M. sympathized.  "I wish there was something I could do."

Kevin just sighed sadly.  The two of them stared at each other for a moment.

"D.M.?" asked Kevin.

"Yes?" answered D.M.

"Have we tried that door yet?" Kevin walked over to a door nearby.  

D.M. shrugged her shoulders and followed Kevin.

Elsewhere, Shirley, Sandy, and Courage were trying to find the door to the basement too.  Fortunately, most of the doorknobs were low enough for the dogs to reach.  They had tried two already and they led into different rooms. 

They about to check a third one when, out of the blue, Shirley asked, "Do you two know each other?"  

Courage and Sandy looked at each other.  At first, Sandy was perturbed.  What business of it was hers?  Then, she decided that Shirley was just politely asking a simple question.

Sandy looked at Shirley and said, "Courage and I are…really good friends."

"Ah, forgive me," replied Shirley.  "Usually I do not ask such spontaneous questions."

"You don't get out much, do you?" asked Sandy, half-seriously.

Shirley just shrugged.  "My life is rather…dull at the moment."

Courage almost laughed at that remark.  She could conjure up spells and incantations and here she was calling her life dull!

"Besides, I like living alone.  Very peaceful," continued Shirley.

"I'm sure," added Sandy.

"Although once in a while I come over to help Courage out with a couple of his problems."

"Really," said Sandy.  She looked at Courage before looking over her shoulder uncomfortably.

Courage was also feeling uncomfortable.  This conversation was getting a bit to intense for his liking.  It looked like Shirley was enjoying the conversation, but Sandy looked a tad miffed, maybe even jealous!  After all, Sandy knew that Shirley had known Courage longer than her.  Courage took a deep breath and decided to end this conversation.

"It's not like we anything going on between us," said Courage quickly.

"You don't?" asked Sandy to Shirley.

To their surprise, Shirley actually laughed.  "Ha ha!  No, I don't think I'm interested in anything like that."      

Sandy breathed a short sigh of relief.  Courage breathed an even deeper sigh.

Suddenly, Kevin's voice could be heard.  "Hey, guys!  We found it!  C'mon!"  

Shirley, Sandy, and Courage found Darkest Moon and Kevin standing in front of an open door with a flight of stairs leading downward.  

"Let's go," Kevin said.

It was dark down there.  Courage whined until Kevin clicked on a light bulb.  The room was filled with junk, like the attic.

Courage shrieked.  He had found himself face to face with a moose!  Luckily, it only turned out to be a moose head on a plaque.  

Once Courage's heartbeat returned to normal, D.M. shouted, "Look!"

Everyone turned and saw the water heater.  Nearby, a bunch of boxes stacked up in one corner of the cluttered room.  

"Just like the riddle!" said Kevin.  "Where the water heater waits…"

"…Lays a pile of empty crates!" finished D.M.

"Yeah!" said Kevin.

Since the crates were empty, the group tossed the crates aside with ease.  Sandy happened to notice Kevin glancing at D.M. a couple times.  She looked to see if Courage noticed, but he was too busy lifting crates to notice.

Finally, when all the boxes were moved, there lay a small passageway.  Beyond it lay a larger room.

"C'mon!" said D.M. as she entered the passageway.

Sandy couldn't hold it in any longer, so she ran up to Kevin and whispered something in his ear.

"No, I don't like her," whispered Kevin.  "Whatever gave you that idea?"

"Hey, Kev!  C'mon," said D.M.  Shirley was already heading in.

"She called you 'Kev'," grinned Sandy.

"Oh, cut it out," said Kevin, as he entered the tunnel with Courage.

"Your ears are turning red."

"They are not.  Not stop that," said Kevin…with a small smile on his face.

At the other end, there was a tunnel that led to a wall on the other side.  Torches lit the hall as vines hung down from the ceiling.  The floor was also covered in palm leaves.

"Great," muttered Kevin.  "More tunnels."

Seeing nothing else to do, Courage decided to show off a little...something to do to take his mind off all this creepiness.  He ran to a vine and swung on it.  Then he landed on the ground.

"Hey, Kev," said D.M.  "What did the rest of the riddle say?"

"Uh…something about 'the sand that's quick'…I think it means…"

Courage screamed the moment everyone said "quicksand."  Everyone looked at Courage and gasped.  He was up to his knees in quicksand that was hidden by the palm leaves! 

"Courage!" yelled Sandy.  She ran a couple feet before she stopped herself from nearly entering the quicksand herself.

"Don't move, Courage!" yelled Kevin.  He turned to D.M.  "What do we do?"

"Look!" said Shirley.  She pointed to a ledge that ran along the wall just over the quicksand.  They ran along the ledge, but Courage was just out of reach.

"Wait!  I've got an idea!" said Kevin.  "D.M., gimme your bat!"     

D.M. gave the bat to Kevin and was shocked when he tossed the bat to Courage.

"What'd you do that for?" she asked.

"Trust me.  Hey, Courage!" Kevin yelled.  "Lie on your bat and put the bat under you back.  You'll stay on the surface of the sand."

As Courage followed the instructions, Kevin told the others, "I read it in a survival magazine."

Courage was now lying on his back and reaching out towards Kevin.  He was still just out of reach.  As a last resort, Kevin grabbed Shirley and held her out to Courage. 

"Grab Shirley's hand!" yelled Kevin.  

Courage did and Kevin pulled the dog in with all his might.  Courage had just enough time to grab D.M.'s bat as he reached the ledge and fell into Sandy's waiting arms.

"Wow," said D.M. who grabbed her bat.  "That was close."

"Let's go," said Kevin.  He and his group carefully made their way over the ledge until they reached the other side.  "The last part of the riddle said, 'look for hands that tick and turn.'  Well, that's easy.  It's a clock!"

"Like that one?" asked Shirley.

Embedded in the stone wall was a clock face that had stopped long ago.

"What now?" asked D.M. who pressed her hand against the clock.

To everyone's surprise, the clock sunk into the wall, which triggered another secret passageway.  This one opened up into a…

"A water slide?" asked Kevin in disbelief.

Running perpendicular from the tunnel was yet another water slide.  This one was big enough for everyone to fit in at once.

"Well…I guess we'd better…" said D.M.

"Aright!  Slip-and-slide time!" said Kevin.  He hadn't been on a water slide in ages.  Without thinking, he grabbed D.M.'s hand and yanked her into the slide with him.  The two of them landed on their backs and slid down the slide, D.M. screaming all the way.

The three dogs stared at each other for a second, then, with Sandy holding Courage and Shirley in each paw, they jumped into the slide and slid down after D.M. and Kevin.


	25. Reunion in the Laboratory

"Reunion in the Laboratory"

It wasn't long until Agent R, Katz, Le Quack, Doc Gerbil, and Foot Fungus entered a room at the end of the hall.  

The peculiarly large room was constructed of stone.  The ceiling, walls, and floor were composed of large granite blocks.  On the other side of the room was a large wooden door with an elaborate brass handle.  Blue light was filtering through the top, bottom, and sides of the door, leaving the room bathed in an eerie aqua-colored glow.  The only other objects in the room were three round holes in the left wall.  They looked like the ends of three giant pipes.

As you recall, the group had just escaped from freezing cold water and were heading towards the room.  Now, they were still cold and wet.  Agent R and Doc Gerbil's damp clothes clung to their bodies.  Katz and Foot still had water dripping from their bodies.  Only Le Quack wasn't wet, but he did feel slightly chilly anyway.  

Everybody looked at the light on the other side of the door.  The light was flickering through the cracks like it was alive.  It was mysterious, yet inviting.  A faint, low humming sound could be heard on the other side.  

"Maybe we c-could warm up on th-the other side," shivered Agent R who pointed at the door.  He began walking towards the door.  The other villains silently followed.

Halfway across the room, a sound froze the five in their tracks.  It was a strange gurgling sound, like the inside of a toilet flushing.  It was coming from the three big holes in the wall.  The group slowly walked up to the holes and looked inside.

"Yah think this is a good idea?" muttered Foot.

"Oh, lighten up," retorted Doc Gerbil.  "What could come out of here anyway?"

Needless to say, Doc Gerbil got his answer two seconds later.

With a gigantic WHOOSH sound, a rushing stream of water erupted out of all three holes with the force of a fire hose and slammed into the stunned onlookers.  It knocked Agent R and the four villains right off their feet.  As the water continued to flood into the room, several forms collided with Agent R and the villains through the water.

After a few seconds, the water abruptly stopped.  Lots of coughing and gagging sounds were heard.  Agent R looked around and saw D.M., Gammon, and Barsby with their groups!  They must've come out of the pipes too.  

Everyone was soaking wet now.  Eustace's Ma was trying to wring her wig dry before anyone noticed.  Likewise, a lot of shaking and drying off was going on. 

"Wh-what happened?" choked Agent Darkest Moon.

Everyone looked around at everybody else.  They then looked back to the three holes in the wall.  Gammon, Barsby, and D.M.'s groups must've separately traveled down a pipe, or slide, and ended up here in the same place.

Agent R saw the water go down small drains in the room.  He heard Kevin ask, "Where are we?"

Agent R responded, "I don't know, but I think I know where we should go from here."

So, as soon as everyone got to their feet, they all walked over to the door.  Agent R, Gammon, and Barsby stood side by side in front of the door.  With them, D.M. and Kevin stood together with Courage and Sandy.  The Duck Brothers, Shirley, Zalost, and all the villains stood just behind everyone and looked on.  The villains hoped the treasure was just on the other side.

Agent R fearlessly reached out and grabbed the door handle.  It didn't budge.  The other agents helped, but the door still didn't open.  It wasn't until everybody made a line and pulled on the person in front of them that the door finally moved.

Inch by inch, the wooden door opened.  A beam of light leaped out of the stone room and grew bigger as the door continued to swing open.  

By the time the door was perpendicular to the wall, Agent R let go of the door, throwing everyone off balance.  They all quickly got back up on their feet and adjusted to the bright light.

The agents entered the new room first, and then everybody else followed.  No one was prepared for what they saw.  

The room was actually a natural cave as big as a school gymnasium.  A huge, dusty Oriental rug lay right in the center of the hardwood floor.  Ancient tables decorated with cobwebs were set up all over the place like a convention.  On every table was some type of lab equipment: empty beakers, siphons, and other glass containers and tubes.  A chemist's dream come true.  There were also bookcases and workstations all over the place.  Surprisingly, aside from the cobwebs, everything looked brand new.  There was barely any dust, because it was a closed environment and no one had been down here for years.

Any evil scientist on Earth would be jealous at this room, but there was one thing in the room that stood out from everything else.  Along the far wall, was a giant device that was the source of the blue light.  It was a square stone border that looked like a giant picture frame.  Connected to the frame were bizarre instruments and machinery that would've impressed Dr. Frankenstein himself.  Within the frame was a bright, mystical, blue and white light that illuminated the entire room.  

Kevin crouched down and grabbed Sandy's damp paw.  He felt like he was living in one of his favorite sci-fi movies.  The adrenaline raced through him as he half-expected some giant creature from another world to come walking through the portal at any second.

Sandy gripped Kevin's hand in her right paw.  She was shaking and not only because of the cold water that covered her from head to toe.  Her sixth sense told her that there was something bad on the other side of all that light.  Something…unnatural.  Sandy gulped as she held Courage's paw with her left paw.

Courage's sixth sense picked up that feeling too.  He gulped, shivered, and whined almost at the same time.  This didn't feel right.  That portal was obviously here for a reason.  But what?  Could it be the reason why Dr. Stromwell vanished off the face of the earth for five years?  At the moment, Courage was too scared to think of it.  

Nearby, Agent R couldn't believe what he was seeing.  He dimly recalled reading about this from somewhere.  The federal tax money, the disappearance and reappearance of Dr. Stromwell, his lost wife, Abigail…he had read it all somewhere before.  Probably in one of the numerous books of paranormal events he had been required to read when he first entered this job.  Until this point, despite everything he had seen, he still had doubts.  Now that he was seeing it with his own eyes, he dismissed those doubts at once.  "If only Dad could see this," he thought.

A myriad of thoughts were running through Agent Gammon's brain.  "It's like 'Stargate' meets 'Poltergeist'," was one of them.  Another was how it was possible to control something like this.  It must've taken a lot of time and effort to make something like this possible.  It was…almost beautiful to look at.  So much power and mystery.  Gammon couldn't help but smile in awe and wonder at the light.

A sudden thought flashed in Agent Darkest Moon's head.  She still had another camera!  Her other one had been broken in the fight with Mad Dog, remember, but, like any good photographer, she always had a spare.  She searched madly through her pockets trying to find where it was.

The wheels in Agent Barsby's brain were turning.  There was no doubt in his mind that this must've been the reason that Dr. Stromwell and his wife disappeared…although he didn't know exactly how it was accomplished.  Stromwell's bio had said he was interested in parapsychology, but it didn't mention any of this!  This entire setup looked more like an obsession than an interest.  And the odd thing was…this lab was just like Barsby had imagined it would look like, except for the portal, of course.

This room was also how Shirley had expected it would look like too.  She had a knack for anything supernatural-related and this was merely another confirmed reaction.  Stromwell was a sort of alchemist/scientist/mild-mannered doctor that just happened to open a passageway to a different realm.  Shirley, however, would be lying if she said that she wasn't a little surprised.  In fact, at the moment, she was slightly worried about what would happen if this portal was opened for too long.

Dr. Zalost wondered how a ghost had opened the portal in the first place.  Psychic energy?  Ectoplasm?  A spell?  He didn't know, but he wanted to find out.  He was also wondering how it could be closed and if Rat was okay back at his home.

The Duck Brothers stared up at the portal on the other side of the room.  They silently oohed and ahhed at it.  It reminded them of their space ship's reactor core.  

Finally, all the evil villains knew that this portal wasn't the source of Stromwell's treasure.  They were a bit miffed, since they didn't see any treasure anywhere.  Other thoughts ran through their minds, ranging from, "Ooooh, pretty light," to "I wonder where the bathroom is?"

One thought, however, was on everybody's mind: What's on the other side of that portal? 

Like flies to a bug zapper, the party slowly walked toward the portal.  

And there, sitting on the short steps that led to the portal, was the only thing that could answer that question.  The transparent ghost of Dr. Stromwell.

(What do you think?  Should I stop here?  I didn't think so.)

A wave of questions, compliments, and demands washed over Stromwell until he held up his ghostly hand to silence them.

"I understand you all have a lot to say, but I first want to congratulate you all on finding my top secret laboratory."

"You built this?" said Kevin.

"Well, no.  This cave was here when I built my house.  Well, not by myself of course.  Most of the town helped out to construct my home, but I'm getting off subject.  I felt that this grand chamber would be the perfect place to conduct my experiments."

"What kind of experiments?" asked Zalost.

Before Stromwell could answer, Katz blurted out.  "Never mind that.  Where's the treasure you've been hiding?"

"Yeah," agreed Eustace's Ma, Le Quack, and all the other villains.

Stromwell sighed.  He knew there was no way to talk them out of it.   "Very well," he grumbled.  "It's over there."  He pointed to one of the room's walls.

"Where?"

"Over there, by that hole."

The villains looked harder and saw a cave in the wall.  Without a word, all the villains ran into the cave and disappeared from view.

The ghostly Dr. Stromwell saw the expressions on everyone else's faces.  "Don't worry," he said.  "It's not really down there.  The money is safely nearby, though.  Now then, now that those ruffians are gone, would any of you care to ask what this magnificent structure behind me is?"  Stromwell motioned to the giant square-shaped portal.

"This must be," gasped Kevin, "the portal."

"Correct," said Stromwell.

"Where does it go?" asked Agent R.

"Who's on the other side?" asked Zalost.

"What was this 'evil presence' you mentioned back at the house?" questioned Gammon.

"And where is your wife, Abigail?" asked Shirley.

Stromwell sighed sadly.  "I suppose the only way I can answer these questions is if I explain to you all how all this came about.  I already told you about what happened to me after my death.  Now it is time I told you all about my life before my death…and my visit to the other side."

The four agents stood next to Kevin, Sandy, Courage, Shirley, Zalost and the Duck Brothers as Stromwell told his story. 

(The following is explained from Stromwell's point of view.)

I know by now that you've all read my bio (chap.17), but you've only read the speculation of others.  To understand what really happened, I should begin back when I left college, because that's when it all actually began.

Shortly after receiving my PhD, I was a professor at the university in St. Louis for ten years.  After that, in 1881, I left the university and traveled to Canada, where my parents lived.  You see, I had recently learned that they had both been…killed when their house collapsed.  I never knew how it collapsed and…well, anyway, after their funeral, I obviously became curious as to where my parents went.  I wondered why living people couldn't go to where the deceased go and come back.  

That was when I became interested in the field of parapsychology.  Of course, before I could do that, I needed a place to stay.  This was 1881, remember; there weren't a whole lot of places to go.  I had always wanted to live out west, but, at the time, it was still fairly new and undiscovered.  I decided that I wanted to live in a quiet town where no one could disturb me and my creative goal to find a way to the realm of the nonliving.  After taking a wagon train to Kansas, I came across a promising town called Nowhere.  It was a decent-sized town back then, so I met the townspeople and convinced them to help build a house for myself.  After it was built, I developed a hearty friendship with the town's citizens and became a town doctor.  I even learned about the deaths of the town founders, Joseph Williams and Reginald Baggs, which happened quite recently in 1852.  (At this point, Stromwell saw the faces of Kevin, Courage, and Sandy.)  No, I haven't met them, but I heard they were very fine gentlemen.  It's no surprise I was very pleased to hear I was returning to Nowhere with you, Kevin, and an even bigger surprise to discover I was living in the house of Reginald's relative!  But I'm getting off subject again.

Anyway, my fascination with the afterlife grew when I discovered this massive cave below my house and the complex system of underwater streams.  I set up my lab here, gathered information, and tried conjuring up ghosts and portals using any means necessary, from spells to alchemy.  None of them worked.    

Then, in 1888, a young woman came into my office.  I had never seen her before, and she complained about a pain in her stomach that she'd been having for a long time.  Her name was Abigail Jones, and she had just moved into town.  She was stunning.  She had short brown hair, brown eyes, and her skin was a light beige-brown.  After her diagnosis, the two of us became good friends.  I was worried when I showed her my laboratory, but she loved it!  She was interested in ghosts and odd phenomenon too.  After two years of meeting each other, I asked her to marry me.  When she accepted, I knew the town would be startled, because I was 45 and she was 28.  They got over it, though, and soon Abigail had a son.  As we watched him grow, my quest…I'm sorry, OUR quest to open a gateway to the other side continued undaunted.

Finally, one day, I came across an old Egyptian document explaining how souls were sent to the afterlife.  A structure was constructed to move the souls into heaven or the underworld.  So, I built a giant replica of the structure and attached as many power sources as I could to it.  This took quite a few years to accomplish, what with my job and family to look after too.

Then, it was 1901.  The beginning of a new century…one I would not live long to see.  As I was about to try out my life's work for the first time, my beloved Abigail ran into my lab and told me that several large packages were just delivered from the government.  I knew it was our tax returns, but imagine our surprise when we found out five million dollars had been mistakenly returned!  Well, we could've given it back to the government, but this was five million dollars!  In 1901, it was unheard of for simple people to own that much money!  Abigail and I decided to keep it stored away in a hidden cave until guilt forced us to do the right thing.  I only wish our guilt would've grown a little quicker.

It wasn't long until the government agents arrived.  You (now talking to the four agents) probably didn't know that the government had agents way back then, right?  But then again, maybe you did.  Anyway, Abigail, our son, and I ran down into the lab and I turned on the portal for the first time.  I crossed my fingers, desperately praying that this contraption could function properly.  Unbelievably, it worked!  I had never been happier at that moment than in my entire life!  I looked at Abigail and told her we needed to take the money with us, but she wanted to do the right thing and give it back to the government.  That's when the agents burst into the lab and headed towards us.

"And then what?" asked Kevin.  

Stromwell sighed.  "What happened next will sound so unbelievable, it cannot be understood fully by the living."  The living begins in the room wanted to know more, but Stromwell refused.  "Yes, I did successfully make it through the portal with Abigail, but in our rush to escape, we left our son behind.  We tried to come back through the portal, but we couldn't.  I was heartbroken to hear he had taken to a foster home, but was glad to know that he was still alive.  About the other side, I'll only say that those five years in there changed me inside and out.  When I reappeared in San Fransisco in 1906, I was the world's only living witness to the indescribable realm I had just visited.  My mind, therefore, was damaged and my body reflected it.  Somehow, I managed to get a part-time job working in an animal shelter.  My speech was still intact, but coworkers often heard me rambling on about the other side.  They never knew what I was saying, so they just assumed I was mentally ill or something.  I wept at night for Abigail and went on with my damaged life, until one day, I felt the earth shake beneath my feet in a way I had never felt before.  My first thought was, 'My lord, he's found me,'"

"Who?" asked one of the Duck Brothers.  Everyone shushed him.

"I thought I could remain unscathed as the city fell before me," continued Stromwell, "but a wall fell on me and I was hospitalized for months.  It seems sadly ironic when that car hit me three days after I left the hospital, doesn't it?" 

No one replied.  Sandy squeezed Courage's paw after listening to that sad story.

"So," said Kevin, "that means Abigail must still be in there, right?"  He pointed to the portal.

"Yes," said Stromwell sadly.  "She is trapped…or more precisely, held prisoner by the evil thing that is in there."

Agent R was about to ask what 'evil thing' Stromwell was talking about, when Kevin said, "Well, why can't you go into the portal yourself?"

"Because," answered Stromwell, "I need a living resident of Nowhere to assist me in rescuing my wife.  Ever since I ended up in San Francisco, I yearned to return to Nowhere, activate my portal, and bring back Abigail.  Unfortunately, when I passed away, I learned that only living beings can enter the portal, not ghosts…unless a live person goes with the ghost.  Plus, I already knew that it would be impossible to travel through the portal without someone keeping it open.  That's where you all come in."

One of the Duck Brothers turned to his siblings and whispered, "How come stuff like this never happens on our planet?     

It took a few moments for Stromwell to explain exactly where everyone was supposed to be and what to do.  "Now then," said Stromwell, "all we need to do now is find a worthy citizen of Nowhere to come with me."

All eyes landed on Courage.

Obviously, he began shaking and whining, but before anyone could protest, Zalost said, "Shirley or I could go."

"That's true," said Stromwell.  "However, I have been with this dog longer than either of you, and I sense strength in him.  I believe his heart is pure enough to assist me in my quest."

Courage suddenly began yapping and hopping from foot to foot.

"What is it?" asked Stromwell.

Kevin knew what Courage said and nearly blurted out, "Courage said…" but stopped himself.  He STILL didn't want anyone to know he could talk to dogs.  Thinking quickly, Kevin turned to Stromwell and said, "I'm not gonna allow this dog to go until you tell me who this 'evil thing' on the other side of this portal is and how you and Courage going to deal with him."

At that moment, screams could be heard coming from the tunnel the villains had gone down earlier.

"Now is probably as good a time as any," confessed Stromwell, before a huge 'BOOM' rocked the entire cave.


	26. Enter the Portal

"Enter the Portal"

The bioluminescent moss guided the villains down the cave.  Katz led the way, followed by Le Quack and Eustace's Ma.  Doc Gerbil, Foot Fungus, Cajun Fox, the Weremole, and the Queen of the Black Puddle made up the rest of the line in that order.  

None of these villains particularly liked any of the others, which was no surprise, since they preferred working alone.  The last time some of them collaborated to get rid of Courage (the 'dodgeball episode', of course), the dog nearly blew out their eardrums with his screaming.  Despite their differences, here they were, walking down a dark tunnel towards a five million dollar payload.     

"How do we know the treasure's really down here?" asked Doc Gerbil.  Those who heard him agreed.

"Well, zat ghost certainly does not need it now," smiled Le Quack.  

"True," added Katz, "but do you think the ghost sent us down here just to throw us off course?"

"Yeah!" yelled Cajun Fox.  "How do we know he ain't leading us on a wild goose chase…no offense," he said to Le Quack.

 A brief argument about Stromwell's truthfulness erupted until Eustace's Ma whistled and pointed to the wall.  Scratched on the rock surface were the words: VALUABLE ITEMS THIS WAY.  That pretty much brought the argument to a close.

The group kept walking until they came to several wooden boards that were blocking the way forward.  There was a hole just large enough for a small man to walk through.  The villains hesitated because there was no light beyond the boards at all.

"Ladies first," offered Katz.

Eustace's Ma and the Queen glared at him as they made their way through before everyone else followed.  The tunnel made a sharp left turn before the moss revealed a dead end.

Just as the villains were about to get angry, they suddenly spotted two boards on the ground that crossed each other. 

"X marks the spot!" 

After they moved the boards, all of the villains attempted to start digging, but the dirt was tough and course.  Only the Weremole could burrow into it, and even then it took a long time to dig down a considerable distance.

Finally, after a long, boring wait, the Weremole struck something about ten feet down.  It seemed to be a small wooden chest about as big as a breadbox.

"That's the treasure?" asked Eustace's Ma.

"It doesn't look very big," said the Queen.

"And it feels really light too," said Katz as the Weremole handed him the chest.

"What the heck's in that there thing?!" complained Cajun Fox. 

"Yeah!" added Foot Fungus. 

"Maybe the treasure's in small bills," said Doc Gerbil.  "Geez, 'bigfoot', don't get your feathers in a knot."

"Alright!  Enough with zee bird jokes!" shouted Le Quack.

"Hey!" yelled Ma.  "Stop arguing and open the darn thing!"

No one objected to that.  Ma gave Katz a hairpin, and he started working the lock.  Within minutes, Katz picked the lock and threw open the chest.

A bright orange light erupted out of the chest, blinding everybody.  The villains looked inside the chest and saw a sphere the size of a cantaloupe.  Katz picked the warm object up out of the box.

"What is it?" one of the villains asked.  No one knew what it was.

"Look!" said Katz.  The villains saw a swirling green mist appear inside the round object.  It filled up the entire interior and grew hotter and hotter until Katz dropped the object on the ground.

In shock, the villains watched as the sphere began fidgeting back and forth erratically.  The surface began cracking as if it was made out of glass.  A high pitched whine grew louder and louder.  The villains covered their ears as Ma yelled, "Let's get out of here!"

The villains smashed through the wooden boards in fear.  They began screaming as a loud hissing and screeching sound blared behind them.  They turned and saw the orb flying at them as if someone threw it!  Just then, before it reached them, it exploded in a blast of light and energy!

On the surface, a mile behind Stromwell's house, the ground erupted in a geyser of dirt.  The villains flew up into the sky like a firework (or like Team Rocket in every episode of Pokemon.  This is actually the end of the villains' involvement with this story, but you're gonna see them again before this tale is through.)

"What on earth was that?" asked Agent R.

The blast shook the cave momentarily before everything clamed down.  A plume of dust and smoke floated out of the tunnel the villains had gone down.

"You think the only thing I worked on down here was this portal?" asked Stromwell.  "That was one of my other experiments…an ecto-bomb.  It still works even after a century.  To give a brief description, it uses artificial ectoplasm developed at an incredibly abnormal state.  The slightest disturbance detonates it.  There are a few more things I did to create it, but I don't have the time to explain."

"Are those wackos gonna be okay?" asked Gammon.

"Hold on," said Stromwell, and abruptly vanished.  Several seconds later, he reappeared and said, "Don't worry.  They're fine.  I just hope they all land in a pillow factory, that's all I can say."

"Yes, well," said Kevin.  "As I was saying, for the last time, I'd like to know who is on the other side of this portal thing, and nobody interrupt this time!"

"Very well," sighed Stromwell.  "It's just so painful to recall.  You see, once on the other side, Abigail and I discovered that we were neither in heaven nor the underworld!  We were in a place between worlds; a state of limbo or purgatory.  The entire place is difficult to explain, but one thing is for sure: half of it goes up and the other half goes down.

"There were other ghosts there that looked at us with shock.  I guess they had never expected to see living humans in there.  Terrified, Abigail and I ran back to the portal, but we were too late.  I don't know whether the agents that chased us destroyed the portal or not, but it was gone.  We were stranded.

"No sooner did we start grieving for the loss of our way back, than a giant humanoid creature suddenly stood before us in a ray of light.  It's hideous, dark voice said, 'I am Byleth, enforcer of the realm between the two final resting places of mortals.  You two have entered this place before your time!  You have violated sacred, liturgical codes, and I cannot allow you to progress to either world until it is your time.  Until then, you will remain under my power!

"I found out that I was the first living creature to artificially create such a portal.  Looking around, I saw portals just like mine opening up all around us.  Obviously, the fact that my portal was man-made must've really shocked the entire world of the non-living!

"I was placed inside this strange prison made out of this material that was foreign to me, despite my vast knowledge of chemistry and alchemy.  Byleth walked off, leaving me and Abigail in separate 'cages' fearing for our lives.  From my prison, I could see portals opening up all around me.  Spirits always came in, very rarely did they ever go out, but I knew I had to escape.  The problem was, I didn't know how that world would affect my mind.  You see, I discovered that the human body's functions are brought to a halt inside that world.  Breathing, eating and other processes are stopped, but you are still alive and moving!  

"Anyway, I don't know how long I stayed there with Abigail by my side.  As I said, we didn't need to eat or sleep or anything.  It must've been weeks or months, I don't know, but soon, two specters came and opened the cage door.  They said Byleth would like to speak with me.  I needed to get out of here, but I couldn't leave Abigail.  I took a couple steps and saw a portal open up not far away.  I didn't know where that portal when, but I needed to leave.  I turned to Abigail and said, 'I will come back for you.  I promise,' before turning and running for the portal.  No one tried to stop me.  I guess they were just too stunned.          

"Anyway, I jumped through the portal and landed in a vacant lot.  At that moment, I came to a horrific realization.  Maybe my brain adapted so quickly to that world, so when I came back, it was too much of a shock.  Or maybe my bodily functions were working again.  Either way, I blacked out, and woke up with a low IQ and damaged speech.  I could only say short words and sentences and couldn't think well…even though my inner thoughts were perfectly alright. 

"And so, I somehow got the vet job, then the earthquake, and then the car.  I was buried in San Francisco, a devastated soul trapped inside a lifeless body for almost one-hundred years.  That's why I was so happy to be Katie's friend when my spirit leaped from my body to her teddy bear.  Again, I'm sorry I caused so much mischief to everyone else.  I guess my excitement was too much to hold in."  Stromwell breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the portal.  "I promised Abigail I would return," he looked at Courage.  "And after all this time, you will finally help make that possible."

Courage managed to smile, slightly.

"There's one thing I don't get," said Agent R.  "If you were held prisoner in there for a year or so, how come five years passed in our world before you were finally discovered by our government?"

"Maybe your government is a bunch of slackers," joked Stromwell.  "Or maybe it's because time and space is different in there, I don't really know.  I studied medicine, not quantum physics."

"Well," said Kevin.  "I guess we'd better get to work then."

"Correct," said Stromwell.  "I've waited almost a century for this moment, and I don't intend to wait a second longer.  Let's go!"

As was mentioned in the previous chapter, a living being could only enter the portal if someone kept it open.  The plan was for Courage and Stromwell to enter the portal while everyone else kept the gateway open.  The controls, despite their complex appearance, had very simple commands, and it didn't take long for everyone to learn their role. 

Just in case the "different time frame" option existed, Courage was to be tied up with a rope, so that he could be pulled back into the living world if anything went wrong.  Stromwell had such a rope lying around and tied one end to a large heavy machine.  The other end was tied around Courage tightly, so that it looked like a harness.  Courage wondered what would happen if the rope broke and quickly decided he didn't want to know.

"Quickly!" shouted Stromwell just in front of the portal.  "It's been open for an hour and I don't know how much longer it'll stay that way!"

"But if this portal has been open for an hour," spoke up the over-observant Kevin, "how come no ghosts have leaped through it into here?"

Stromwell scratched his ghostly head.  "I guess it's unethical for ghosts to jump through portals their not supposed to jump through.  Go figure."  He smiled after saying that modern expression.

There was a considerable length of rope, so Courage didn't need to worry about running out of rope.  As Courage headed towards the portal, the four agents walked up to him.  

Agent R asked, "How're you feeling, Courage?"

Courage simply whined.  

"Hey, don't worry," soothed Agent R as he ruffled the fur on Courage's head.  "All you gotta do is go in, break out Abigail, and that's it."

"Yeah," added Agent Barsby.  "And if you run into that Byleth guy, give a yank on the rope and we'll pull you back, okay?"

Courage nodded.

"And remember," added Agent Gammon.  "Mr. and Mrs. Stromwell need to go up, not down."

"That's kinda self-explanatory," said Agent R.

Agent Darkest Moon patted Courage on the head and said, "Be brave."

"Yeah, have fun," said Gammon.  The other three agents looked at him oddly.

Shirley the Medium came up to Courage next.  She reached into her pocket and said, "Here."  She gave Courage a dog biscuit.  "It's all I have at the moment."

Courage chewed and swallowed it, hoping this wouldn't be his last meal.  He didn't know what use it could be on the other side of the portal, since his digestive system wouldn't be functional, but Courage decided not to point that out.  

Dr. Zalost walked up to Courage and said, "Dear Courage, I wish you the best of luck in helping out Dr. Stromwell.  I wish to give you this."  Zalost reached into his jacket and pulled out a bag full of Muriel's Happy Plums.  "They might come in handy upon your return."

Courage woofed a 'thank you' and pocketed the bag.

The Duck Brothers walked up to Courage next.

"Uh, we didn't bring anything with us to give to you," admitted the green duck.

"Yeah, sorry," said the blue duck.

As they said that, the orange duck slowly walked behind his brothers and, without warning, reached over and plucked a tail feather from each duck.  The two ducks yelped with surprise and pain.  The orange duck then plucked a tail feather of his own and gave the three feathers to Courage.  Courage pocketed the feathers and smiled at the ducks.

"You could've warned us before doing that," said the blue duck, as he and the green duck rubbed their tails.

"Well, excuse me for being friendly," argued the orange duck as the three brothers walked off to the side.

Kevin and Sandy were the last ones to approach Courage.  Kevin gave Courage a big hug and secretly whispered into his ear, "Just try and come back, Courage.  And don't forget to ask Stromwell where the treasure is."

Kevin stood up and stepped back.  Courage then saw Sandy staring at him.  Courage tried to think of what to say.  He wondered what Sandy was going to give him, but the smile on her face spoiled the surprise.  Sandy quickly walked up to Courage and gave him a big, passionate kiss.

After a few seconds, Sandy whispered, "Listen to what D.M. told you…and please come back."

Courage smiled and nodded.  He felt glad and confident as he stared at the bright, shining portal.  (He was also slightly embarrassed, since so many witnesses were around when Sandy kissed him.)  Courage walked up to the portal next to Stromwell.

"All right, people, get into positions!" ordered Stromwell.  "We…"

"Wait!!!" shouted D.M.  She had finally found her spare camera.  "I just want one quick picture!" 

"D.M…" began Agent R.

"It's okay, I won't show it to anyone," said D.M.  "I just wanna take one of everyone.  Pleeease???"

"Oh, alright," said Agent R.  "Let's be quick about it."

D.M. set the timer on the camera and placed it on a table.  The light from the portal was shining from behind everyone, but the flash on the camera would show the front of everybody.  

"Say cheese," said D.M.

The camera took the picture and everyone got back into position, but not before D.M. ran over and placed the camera in her pocket. 

"Well," thought Courage to himself.  "Here goes nothing."  He turned and saw Stromwell.  If he were alive, he would be crying with joy.  Courage just hoped everything would go according to plan.

Repeating in his mind what D.M. told him, (be brave, be brave, be brave,) Courage stepped into the portal with Dr. Stromwell.  The rope stretching out of the portal was all that remained.   


	27. The Wrath of Byleth

"The Wrath of Byleth"

Purgatory: an intermediate state after death for expiatory purification; specifically, a place or state of punishment wherein according to Roman Catholic doctrine the souls of those who die in God's grace may make satisfaction for past sins and so become fit for heaven. (Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary.  This was as close a definition as I could come up with for the place on the other side of the portal.)

With his eyes closed, Courage felt a stinging sensation race through his body, as if millions of ants were crawling over him, inside and out.  Once the feeling was gone, Courage opened his eyes and gasped.

Professor Leonard Q. Stromwell was right.  The place was difficult to explain.

From Courage's vantage point, the first thing he saw was a lot of white.  The sky, or at least, where there should be a sky, was all white and kind of cloudy.  The ground was a marble white and was level.  A considerable distance to the right, the ground slanted upwards into a blinding white light.  To the left, the ground slowly slanted downwards until it dipped down into a fog of black.  In fact, a fog hid the horizon line and altered one's sense of distance.  

Directly in front of Courage and Stromwell was a set of curved confines.  Inside, spirits were walking around, sitting on the floor, and not doing much in particular.  Stromwell knew that Abigail was inside one of those cages.

Courage suddenly realized that he wasn't breathing, yet he felt perfectly fine!  He wasn't hungry or tired or hot or anything.  He was just…comfortable!  But then, a horrifying thought came to his mind.  If the living Stromwell became a slow, dimwitted person when he left this place, would Courage become impaired once he left too?

Stromwell's voice snapped him out of his worries.  "Come on.  Let's go find her."

They made their way to the confines.  Courage's rope kept him connected to his friends on the other side.  When they reached them, Stromwell said, "Wait here," and disappeared to go check on each and every cell.  As he waited, Courage looked around.  There were not too many ghosts flying around here at that time.  Most of them usually went directly "up" or "down" instead of going here.  Still, a portal or two opened up here and there, letting a ghost in.  Some ghosts stood by the rope and observed it curiously as well as Courage.  The pink dog hoped with all his heart that they would all leave him alone.  The moment he thought that, all the ghosts looked at Courage and slowly floated off.     

Courage was rather creeped out by what just happened.  Maybe they only read your thoughts when you concentrated really hard or…

"She's not here!" said Stromwell suddenly.  Courage shouted with surprise and whirled around.  Stromwell looked worried.  "I looked in all the cells, but she wasn't there.  Where could she be?"  Stromwell's ghost wavered with anxiety and aggravation.  Courage was beginning to feel sorry for the guy.  "I must let the others know that we need more time."

With that, Stromwell flew back to the portal and stood before everyone in laboratory.  "I need more time.  Let out some more rope and keep those machines running as long as possible!"

"Right-o!" shouted Agent Barsby.  Everyone else agreed as the Duck Brothers carefully allowed more rope to enter the portal.

Stromwell jumped back through the portal.  He had to be careful he wasn't halfway between the two worlds for very long.  Being caught between both realms, whether living or dead, was not a good idea.  Stromwell tried when he first entered the portal for the first time with his wife.  Just like Courage, a stinging sensation had raced through him, only it was more painful the longer it was kept there.

Stromwell followed the rope back to Courage.  "I just don't understand," muttered Stromwell sadly.  "Where could she be?"

Before Courage could answer, a booming voice interrupted them.  The deep, bass voice sounded like a giant talking whale.  It was so deep and sounded so sinister, almost like a whisper, that Courage could feel his insides quivering as his heart sunk into his stomach.

"Have you considered looking behind you?"

Stromwell and Courage spun around.  When Courage laid eyes on the entity behind him, he let out a scream that made every ghost within earshot turn and stare.

The creature with the big, booming voice was about thirty feet tall, which was enormous compared to Courage's height.  The being's skin was dark red and his body was bulging with muscles.  Its feet and hands were equipped with curved claws, and it had a long, winding tail that looked like it belonged on a dinosaur.  Its face was rather ugly, with large fangs, bat-like ears, and yellow eyes.  The creature wore no clothing, which didn't really didn't matter since the gender was impossible to determine.

"Well, well, well," said the entity.  It glared down at the two startled onlookers.  "Just what I need to start my day.  A familiar face and another living creature.  I had a feeling you'd return, Leonard." 

"Alright, Byleth," said Leonard Stromwell angrily.  "What have you done with Abigail?"

"Calm down, little man," laughed Byleth.  "I'm actually a little surprised to see you after all this time.  Where have you been, you little sneak?"

"Oh, I'm just full of surprises, aren't I?" said Stromwell with a frown.

"Indeed," said Byleth.  "Your precious Abigail is still here.  I'm sure you'd like to know where she is, wouldn't you?"  Stromwell crossed his arms and glared at Byleth.  Courage could almost feel the anger emanating the ghost.  "But maybe I should inform your little canine friend about who he's facing right now."

Before Stromwell could protest, the egotistical Byleth gave a brief description about himself.  "I used to work for the big guy down there."  He pointed down to the dark fog.  "To make a long story short, I got kicked out for being 'too nice'.  I tried going up there," and he pointed to the blinding light, "but they took one look at me and threw me here.  Given my already mighty powers, I took control of this 'in-between-land' and kept it free of troublemakers.  So far, no one has topped you and your wife for that honor."  Byleth grinned an evil, nasty grin.

"Just tell me where she is," growled Stromwell.

"Oooh, touchy," mocked Byleth.  "Very well.  Follow me.  I hope you have enough rope there, dog."  Byleth laughed.

Worrying about if there was enough rope for Courage, Stromwell asked, "How far away is she?"

"Oh, not far," said Byleth.  "It's just that, after a while, I decided to move her to some more…comfortable surroundings."

"What do you mean?" asked Stromwell.

"See for yourself," said Byleth, and he stepped aside to let Stromwell and Courage see.

 Far away, Stromwell could see a tall stone tower that looked similar to Dr. Zalost's tower before it was destroyed.  The difference was that it looked rather plain, had no giant steel legs or bulldozer wheels, and the only window was at the very top.  Courage knew that Abigail must be up there.

"Byleth, you let her go this minute!" shouted Stromwell furiously. 

"You fool," said Byleth.  "Can't you see that would be breaking the whole 'damsel in distress' deal?  Call me a sucker for clichés."  Byleth laughed evilly.

Without a word, Stromwell began running quickly towards the tower.  

"Better hurry!" shouted Byleth as Stromwell floated through the door.  Byleth stared at Courage staring up at him with big frightened eyes.  "What that fool is doing is pointless.  When Abigail sees her husband is a ghost, she'll never accept him again, especially after he since he waited a whole century to finally save her.  I wouldn't come back to him if I were her, which is a good thing, now that I think of it."  

Byleth laughed again.  Courage didn't know whether to believe him or not.  A whine escaped his throat.  

"Awww, are you bored?" asked Byleth is a fake sympathetic voice.  "Well, here, let me get things rolling for you.  All of you!  Attack!"

Every ghost who heard that command suddenly stopped what they were doing and, as if in a trance, starting floating towards Courage.  Courage screamed and began running away from them in terror.

"Bet you didn't think I had that much power, did you?" laughed Byleth.

Courage didn't get very far before he was yanked off his feet.  He landed on his rear and suddenly realized he had run out of rope!  He gasped as the ghosts continued to advance towards him.  Their eyes glowed as their arms reached out to grab him.

Courage gulped and looked all around.  He was horrified to learn that he was surrounded.

Inside the tower, Leonard Stromwell flew up the long flight of stairs until he came to a door.  For a moment he wondered how he was going to open it.  Then he remembered he could just float right through it.  He entered the room and was shocked by what he saw.

Sitting in the middle of the room was a gray-haired old woman sitting cross-legged on a rug.  She was surrounded by stone walls and a stone ceiling.  Her brown-eyes glanced up and she gasped, not because she was seeing a ghost (she was used to seeing them by now), but because she recognized the face.

"Leo!" she cried.

"Abby!" responded Leonard.  

In a rush of excitement, Abigail threw her arms around Leonard and landed flat on her face.  She turned around and both of them realized that Leonard was a ghost.

"Leo, what happened?" she slowly placed a hand on her husband's cheek.  It went right through him.

"A car hit me, Abby," said Stromwell sadly.  "It's been a century back on Earth, but you don't look a day over eighty!"

Abigail smiled for the first time in a long time.  "I guess time really does travel slower here."  A tear trickled down her cheek.

"You're still alive," said Stromwell.  "That means you can come back with me through the portal!"

"The portal?" asked Abigail with a shock.

"Yes!" said Stromwell excitedly.  "It's a long story, but I managed to get our portal operational again!  Come on, we need to get out of here.  It won't stay open for very long."

"I can't" said Abigail.

"You can't?" repeated Stromwell.  "Why not?"

"Because you're a ghost and I'm still alive.  If we both go through that portal, you and I won't be able to live our lives the way we used to.  Those agents might still be after the money.  I know I wanted to give the money to them, but I don't care anymore, now that we're together again.  They haven't found it, have they?"

"No, it's still safe," reassured Stromwell.  He felt it was wise not to mention that four agents had helped him find his wife.

"That's good," said Abigail.  "But if we did go back through, and I were to die, I would go straight to heaven, and you would still be stuck between worlds."

"You don't know that for sure.  Even I don't know for sure."

"I only know that our lives would be miserable if we went back through that portal."

"But what are we going to do?" asked Stromwell to his wife.  "I can't become a living being again."

Abigail sighed.  Her head turned toward the window with no glass in it.  "Then it looks like there's only one option left."

Stromwell knew what she was thinking.  "Darling, don't…"

"I have to," she said sadly.  "The only reason I haven't done it before is because there is an invisible barrier in the window."

"Hmmm, I wonder…" muttered Stromwell.  He walked up to the window and put his transparent hand through it.  "Now try."

Abigail stood beside her husband and placed her hand where she would normally feel a barrier blocking the opening.  Now, she was startled to find that her hand went right through the window.  She didn't feel any invisible barrier.

"I guess a ghost can turn off whatever barrier was blocking the window," said Stromwell.

Abigail looked down.  It was about ten stories to the white ground below.  She swung her leg over the side and looked at her husband.  "I'm scared," she said softly.

Stromwell leaned over and kissed her cheek.  "Don't be," he said.

Abigail swung her other leg over the side and tried to hold Stromwell's hand.  Even though she didn't feel anything, she knew he was there.  Her husband knew that everything was going to be alright.

She let go of Stromwell's hand.

Not far away, Byleth was laughing evilly as he watched the ghosts getting closer and closer to Courage.  They were an arms length away now, and Courage was almost in tears with fright.  He wanted to untie the rope, the one thing that was keeping him here, but then he'd never see home again.  Courage closed his eyes, howled sorrowfully, and waited for the end.

Byleth was undaunted.  "Good help is so hard to find these days."  He then laughed and laughed as the ghosts finally reached Courage.

"Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-haaaa….huh???"

Courage opened an eye and realized that the ghosts were going straight through him!  He wasn't in any danger at all!  Courage was so surprised, he actually laughed and began dancing around the confused spirits.

"Curses," muttered Byleth.  "I forgot these ghosts can't harm the living."  He sighed.  "Well, I guess I'd better check and see how Mrs. 'Dumb-well's husband is doing with…WHAT THE??!!"

Courage looked at the tower and was nearly as shocked as Byleth.  The other ghosts also turned and stared.

There, at the bottom of the tower, lay the lifeless body of Abigail Stromwell.  It lay face down on the marble white ground.  Standing up from the body, was the startled ghost of Abigail Stromwell.  She looked at her see-through hands as her husband floated down from the window to the ground.

"What have you done?!" yelled Byleth.

"It's over, Byleth," said Stromwell.  "Abigail and I are together at last, so if you'd kindly step out of our way, we'll be on our way."  He pointed behind Byleth to the bright light.

"HA!  You think you can get away that easily?!"  Byleth was furious now.  His whole body glowed red and he seemed to grow bigger in size.  "Need I remind you of what my powers can do?"

"Such as?" asked Stromwell.

"You may recall," said Byleth, "that I was absent when you escaped, Leonard.  When I returned and saw you were gone, I was deeply angered by my lack of security.  I went to San Francisco, but I couldn't find you.  I grew so enraged, that I decided that if I couldn't find you, the entire city would suffer.  Therefore, I forced the fault lines under the city to move and shake and quiver so mightily, that the entire city was virtually destroyed!"

Courage was almost as shocked as Mr. and Mrs. Stromwell.  This creature was responsible for the 1906 San Francisco earthquake!

"It wasn't until several months later, during your death of course, that I knew you were dead.  I couldn't wait to break the news to Abigail, but at the last minute, I decided not to tell her anything.  I felt it would be more enjoyable to watch her suffer in her own worry.

And now, after all this time, I finally have both of you right where I want you."  Byleth laughed deeply.  Courage grabbed onto the rope for dear life as he slowly made his way toward the terrified couple.

"If it's one thing I hate, it's mortals who go mooching around in places they don't belong."  He cast a death glare at Courage that stopped him in his tracks.  "I was too late to have any fun with Leonard, but now I'm gonna have a little fun with you, dog."

Courage screamed as Byleth began playfully plucking at the rope.  "It would be a shame if something was to happen to this lifeline, wouldn't it?"

"You leave Courage alone!" yelled Stromwell.

Byleth laughed.  "Interesting name, I admit."  With a wave of his hand, Mr. and Mrs. Stromwell were knocked to the ground.  Byleth then walked up to Courage and stood at his full height.  "You stupid dog," he said.  "You think coming here alone with that ghost solves anything?  Your whole involvement in this ordeal has been for nothing.  After all this time, you won't have accomplished a thing."  Byleth laughed as he cracked his knuckles.  "Nothing can save you now!"

Courage would surely have passed out from fright and never wake up again if he hadn't seen something going on behind Byleth's back.  Courage gasped as two green mists appeared in the air behind Byleth's shoulders.  As the two familiar forms took shape, Courage couldn't help but smile.  

"Nothing can save me, huh?" thought Courage.

Here comes the climax at last!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


	28. Happy Plums Save the Day

"Happy Plums Save the Day"…with cameo appearances by Reginald Baggs and Joseph Williams!!!!!

Byleth saw the look on Courage's face and immediately wondered why he was smiling.  At the same time, Abigail and Leonard Stromwell got up and gasped at the two forms behind Byleth.  Byleth also turned around and gasped as well.

Hovering in the air, surrounded by an aura of green, were none other than Reginald Baggs and Joseph Williams, the founders of Nowhere.

"You are not going to lay a finger on that dog," ordered Reginald.

"Oh?" questioned Byleth.  "And who are you to tell me what to do?"

"My name is Reginald Baggs," said Reginald, "and that is my friend, Joseph Williams."

"We are friends of Courage, the dog you see there," added Joseph.

"He helped us open the doors to our final resting place, and we just happened to be in the neighborhood…"

"Bah!" exclaimed Byleth.  "Who do you think you are, barging down here and ordering me to stand down?  I was just having a bit of fun anyway."

Courage slowly inched his way over to where Leonard and Abigail were sitting.  Things didn't look good at the moment, despite the familiar visitors.

"Well, Reginald and I implore you to let the dog go, as well as let the Stromwell couple return to their final resting pl…"

"Never!" shouted Byleth.  "They are prisoners!  They broke many of the ethical and moral policies that keep this place operational."  Byleth brought his hand behind his back, away from Reginald and Joseph.  Courage, Leonard, and Abigail watched in horror as a ball of red, ectoplasmic energy formed in Byleth's palm.  "And I cannot allow you to release them!"

With that, Byleth threw the ball of energy at the two founders.  

"Look out!" yelled Reginald as he and Joseph dodged them.  

"So you want to play rough, huh?" retorted Joseph.  Both ghosts suddenly produced balls of energy themselves.  Within seconds, red and green spheres were flying everywhere.

Courage, Leonard, and Abigail tried to get away from the melee, but there wasn't much cover besides the tower and the confines.  They pressed themselves up against the tower.  Courage looked at the bright light up to the left and the black fog down to the right.  He wondered why some big booming voice from either place didn't interfere.

"I'm sorry I didn't come sooner," said Leonard to Abigail.

"That's alright, Leo," assured Abigail.  "At least you kept your promise.  That's all I need to keep me happy."  She smiled at her husband.

"Happy?" thought Courage.  "That's it!"  A light bulb appeared over his head.  He reached in his pocket and took out the bag of Happy Plums that Dr. Zalost had given him.  If they could make an angry doctor happy, why not a temperamental spirit?

The only problem was: how was he going to get Byleth to eat them?

Thinking of no other plan, Courage ran into the scuffle, keeping his eye out for any incoming energy balls and praying that none of them would snap the rope.  

"I'm growing tired of this," said Byleth angrily.  He was just about to start another onslaught when he felt something kick his foot.  The balls of energy stopped flying as Byleth looked down and saw Courage holding up a clear plastic bag with big reflective eyes.

The pathetic sight made Byleth laugh.  Reginald and Joseph stood still, ready to attack if Byleth made any move towards Courage.  

Byleth tried to stop laughing as he slowly leaned over.  "What do you have there, dog, a peace offering?"  Byleth slowly took the bag from Courage as the founders looked on cautiously.  

Byleth glared at the contents.  Courage gulped, hoping Byleth would eat them.

"Okay, dog, I'll play along.  I'll need all the 'strength' I need to get rid of these two ghouls."  Byleth abruptly threw the plums, bag and all, into his mouth.  He chewed the contents for a while and swallowed it.  To Courage's dismay, it didn't look like it had any affect on him.

"Now, then…" grumbled Byleth.  Another ball of energy began to form in his hand, and judging from his line of sight, it looked like he was going to break the rope that was holding Courage!  Reginald and Joseph readied themselves as Leonard and Abigail remained where they were.  They were afraid if they made a break for it, Byleth would hit them before they made it.

Suddenly, the ball of energy in Byleth's hand disappeared.  The red glow that illuminated him died out.  "Now…now, I just had a thought."

Everyone, the four ghosts and Courage, were startled by this sudden mood change.  Byleth's voice was still deep, but was now less threatening.  His eyebrows, which had been in an angry position for the longest time, were now beginning to recede.  

"Before anyone goes anywhere, I think I'd better check this with higher authorities.  It's stuff like this that got me kicked out from both worlds in the first place."  Suddenly, Byleth broke into a run towards the bright white light.  "Nobody move!  I'll be right back!"  He disappeared into the light.

Courage and ghosts didn't move.  They were too shocked by what had just happened.  All four ghosts slowly turned and stared at Courage.

"Was that one of my inventions?" asked Stromwell.  "I don't recall making anything like that."

Courage shook his head.

"Those looked like plums to me," said Reginald, scratching his head.

Courage nodded.

"Gee, what did you put in them?" asked Joseph.

Courage just shrugged.  Muriel always said that she put lots of love and affection in her plums.  "My happy plums can make anyone happy," she used to say.

Just then, Byleth ran out of the light and rushed past them.  "Still don't go anywhere!"  He ran off into the black fog.

"Sorry we didn't get here sooner, Courage," apologized Reginald.

"Yeah," added Joseph.  "Remember when we revived you in that cave after my battle with Reginald?  Oh, of course not, you were unconscious, sorry.  Anyway, not only did we bring you back to life, for lack of better words, we also created a spiritual link between us and you, so that when you finally arrived here, we'd be able to meet you again."

"We were a little shocked when we detected your presence here so soon," admitted Joseph.  "But when he arrived here, we saw you were still alive."

Turning to Leonard, Reginald said, "You're going to have to tell us all about this portal you created."

Before Leonard Stromwell could thank Reginald for the remark, Byleth returned.  "Okay," he said, "I talked to the guy up there and the guy down there and they said exactly as I thought they would say."  Byleth pointed upwards.  "He wants me to set the Stromwells free."  Byleth pointed downwards.  "He wants them to be kept here or be sent to where he is for eternity.  So, I decided…"

"Mr. Byleth!" said a small voice suddenly.  Everyone turned and saw a small ghost with a cherubim face running towards them.  "Mr. Byleth, sir!"

Byleth sighed.  "What is it now?"

The cherubim ghost stuttered, "A…um, another stillborn from the reincarnation department has been left in your realm again, sir."

"That's the fifth one we've had in the last…well, that's it.  I'm sick and tired of those slackers dropping off souls here in my domain.  I'm going to personally go there right now and straighten this whole thing out.  Let the guy in charge know that, okay?  He will know soon enough the evil powers of…"

"Okay, bye, sir," said the ghost and floated off.

Byleth rubbed his forehead.  "Okay, I've dealt with you and Abigail long enough, Leo.  You two are free to go…but only because I have a very busy schedule, and if you ever cause another fiasco like this ever again, I'll make sure you'll pay dearly for it, understand?"

"…y…Yes!  Yessir!" said Leonard Stromwell happily.

"Good.  Now get lost."  With that, Byleth walked off into the fog.

Abigail and Leonard immediately started a victory celebration, which Courage, Reginald, and Joseph soon joined in.

"I've never been so happy!" said Stromwell as he hugged his wife again.

Just then, a flash of light and sparks of electricity shot out from the portal that Courage was still attached to.  Strange whirring sounds were coming from the gateway.

"Oh no!" gasped Stromwell.  "The portal is malfunctioning!"

"Keep it steady!" shouted Agent R on the other side of the portal.  

"I can't!" yelled Kevin.  "Everything's breaking apart!"

It was true.  The century-old machinery was finally beginning to take its toll.  Sparks were flying out from everywhere.  The agents were trying to man the controls as best they could, but it would be seconds until the entire thing shut down entirely.  Zalost and Shirley stepped back from a control board that had become to hot to handle.  The Duck Brothers stood by the rope, ready to pull Courage in.

"The signal," whispered Kevin.  "C'mon, Courage, give us the signal."  The signal, by the way, was if Courage was in trouble, he would tug on the cord three times.

Sandy bit down on her paw with worry as the portal began to break down.

"Quickly, Courage!" shouted Stromwell.  "You must go back through the portal or you'll be stuck here in this world for quite a while."

Courage looked at Stromwell in shock.

Reading the expression on Courage's face, Stromwell nodded sadly.  "Yes, Courage, I'm afraid that once the portal shuts down, it will shut down for good.  I'm the only one who knew how to operate it correctly, so this might be the last time we shall see each other."

Courage nodded in agreement.  After all that had happened in the last few days, Courage was saddened to hear this news.

"But cheer up, Courage," reassured Stromwell.  "Like your friends, Reginald and Joseph, I will always be looking out for you." 

Courage smiled as he told himself not to cry.  His tail wagged as Stromwell patted Courage on the head, even though the dog didn't feel anything.  

Abigail approached Courage as gave him a quick kiss on his forehead.  "Thank you, Courage," she said softly.

"Farewell, Courage," said Reginald.

"Yes," added Joseph.  "It was a pleasure meeting you again.  I only wish it wouldn't have been cut so short."

With that, Courage grabbed the rope and was just about to tug it three times, when he suddenly remembered what Kevin told him to do.  With a rush of frantic energy, Courage began babbling a bunch of syllables and was waving his arms.

Stromwell, who didn't understand what Courage was babbling about (not because he didn't understand Dog, but because Courage was talking too quickly), looked at the two founders to see if they knew what the dog said.

"I believe he's asking you where the treasure is, Leonard," said Reginald.

"Ah, yes, of course," said Stromwell.  He motioned to Courage, and whispered in the dog's ear the location of the tax money.

Then, large bolts of electricity and steam were streaming out of the portal.  It wasn't going to stay open much longer.

"Go, Courage!  And thank you for everything...fellow citizen of Nowhere."

"Good-bye, Courage," called Abigail, Reginald, and Joseph.

Courage smiled, waved with one paw, and tugged the rope three times with the other paw.  Immediately, Courage was yanked off his feet and flying backwards towards the portal.

The last thing he saw were the smiling faces of Reginald Baggs and Joseph Williams, as well as Leonard and Abigail Stromwell walking hand in hand towards the bright white light at last.

Courage felt a brief stinging sensation as his body left the spirit world and came back into his own world.  Moments later, an explosion of dirt, steam, fire, and debris slammed into Courage, who was still flying backwards in the air.  The blast sent everyone flying a short distance into the lab experiments in the room.  They were shaken and slightly bruised, but unharmed.

Slowly, everyone slowly got to their feet.  They saw the square-shaped portal was still intact, but instead of light, there was only the wall of the room on the other side.  The machines that had been keeping the portal open were virtually destroyed.  Dust and scraps of metal were everywhere.  The only lights were now coming from torches on the walls that no one had noticed before.  There were also large candelabras standing on every table.  No one had noticed they were lit because the light from the portal had grabbed everyone's attention.

Courage thanked everybody he could think of that he had not been on the other side of the portal when it exploded.

Instantly, Courage became surrounded by congratulations, hugs, pats, kisses (from Sandy), and questions, especially from the agents, who were incredibly eager to know about what was on the other side of the portal.

Kevin soon calmed everyone down, pried Sandy off of Courage, and asked, "Did you ask Stromwell where the treasure is?"

Courage shakily nodded his head and hugged Kevin by the neck.  As he did, Courage whispered to Kevin the location of the treasure, according to what Stromwell said.

Kevin let go of Courage and pointed to the corner of the room that was near the entrance to the cave (the one with the big door.)

Everyone got up and ran over to the corner, except for Agent R.  He quickly grabbed Kevin by the shoulder and said, "You have quite an unusual talent, Kevin."

"What do you mean?" asked Kevin innocently.

"Don't play dumb, Kev," laughed Agent R.  "You really think I didn't notice Courage whisper something in your ear?  You can understand what Courage says, right?"

Kevin saw Courage and Sandy staring at him with shocked expressions.  "No," said Kevin stubbornly.  Then, seeing that it really didn't matter by now, he shrugged his shoulders softly and said, "I can understand all dogs…pretty much."

"Ah," said Agent R.  He and Kevin slowly walked with Courage and Sandy towards the corner of the room where everyone else was waiting for them. 

"How come you didn't tell me this before?" asked Agent R.

"Duh!  Because you were secret agents who would've sent me off to some government facility to be experimented on or something," answered Kevin.

"Well, I'm glad you kept it a secret for this long," said Agent R.  "Because by now, my fellow agents and I are pretty much fed up with this business.  Besides, I think we've experienced some stuff that's a whole lot weirder than the ability to talk to dogs."

"That's true," laughed Kevin. 

The two looked at Courage and Sandy talking and giggling to each other.

"What are they saying now?" asked Agent R.

"Oh, just cutesy, boyfriend-girlfriend stuff.  You wouldn't be interested."

Overhearing, Sandy lightly punched Kevin in the leg. 

Finally, the four of them reached the far corner of the room, away from the portal.  Everybody was standing around a lone table with a few beakers on it.  Courage began pointing frantically to one of the beakers.

"What does it mean?" asked Agent Gammon.

Everyone, except Agent R, was equally curious.  Agent R had a hunch and looked under the table.  A wire came out of the wall and up through the table.

"We're supposed to move one of the beakers, right?" asked Agent R.

Courage nodded his head.  He instructed Kevin to lift him up onto the table.  Courage walked over to the beakers and looked at Agent R.  Together, the two zeroed in on one particular beaker.  Without hesitation, Courage grabbed the beaker and tried to lift it, but it didn't budge.  This was the right one.  Just like Stromwell told him to, Courage turned the beaker a quarter to the right.

At once, and entire section of wall sunk into the floor next to the table.  Not far inside, to the surprise of everyone, were several wooden treasure chests.

"That's it!  That's the treasure!" shouted Kevin.  Everyone began dancing around and celebrating again.  The Duck Brothers had no idea how important the treasure was, but since everyone was celebrating, they might as well to.

Eventually, everyone tried to drag one of the chests.  It took everyone to drag it, because it was VERY heavy.  There was also a large lock on it that had to be broken off.  A large metal rod that had been used in a semiconductor experiment was used to eventually break the lock.  All four agents opened the chest's door.

Everyone was expecting the usual "gold coin" treasure, but instead, there were packs and packs of old dollar bills.  Kevin held one of them up.  The bills were dated '1900' and looked brand new.

"Wow," said Agent R.  He looked at Kevin.  "There's enough money here to buy your whole family a mansion!"

With a start, Kevin suddenly remembered that his family had been evicted from their apartment and had nowhere to go.  His parents, Eustace, and Muriel were asleep back at the house (thanks to Stromwell's sleeping spell) and Katie was back there too.  

"Yeah," said D.M.  "Didn't Stromwell's bio say that there was a reward for discovering this money?"

"I think so, yeah," said Kevin.  He was still in shock by the discovery.  "But, where would I begin?  I…"

"Here," said Agent R.  He gave Kevin a piece of paper.  On it was a printout of a website for Kansas State Realty.  "I figure this might be a good starting point."

Kevin didn't know what to say.  Sandy hugged Kevin's leg as he stared at everyone.

"Wow, this is so incredible.  I…I wish this moment could last forever."

At that moment, a man's voice startled everyone.  

"HANDS IN THE AIR!!! NOBODY MOVE!!!"

Everyone turned with their hands raised and saw a man in camouflage gear pointing a machine gun straight at them.                  


	29. The Hendersons Find a New Home

"The Hendersons Find a New Home"

Within seconds, U.S. Marines began running into the room like ants out of a damaged anthill.  Their guns were drawn as they swarmed into the room.  A bunch of them surrounded the terrified group of friends.  Others wandered over to the damaged portal.  Still others were trying to apprehend the other treasure chests.

Before anyone could do anything more, a small man approached them.  Courage recognized the man immediately.  He had bushy eyebrows and a big bushy moustache.  (You Courage fans might recognize him as the man who was the explorer in the "Courage and the Mummy" episode or his common role as the General, as well as other roles.)

"Excuse me," said the man in a gruff voice.  "I'm from the 'Center for Really Abnormal Parapsychology'.  I've been ordered here to retrieve the tax money."

"What?!" shouted Kevin.

"Ordered by who?" demanded Agent R.

Agent Gammon said, "You do realize what the letters of your company spell, right?"

The man thought for a second, and then whispered into a tape recorder, "Note to self: think of new name for the company."  

"Do something," whispered Kevin to the agents.

Agent R reached into his pocket and pulled out a badge.  "Don't shoot!  The four of us are secret agents!"

"…who should've reported in hours ago!" shouted a frustrated voice from the doorway.

The hearts of all four agents sank as they recognized the voice.  Agent R was so stunned he nearly dropped the badge.

Walking towards them, surrounded by bodyguards, was the agents' Boss…Agent R's father.

"It's alright," said the Boss to the moustached man.  "I'll take it from here."

The agents were stunned.  They had never seen their boss outside of his office before.  

Agent R spoke up.  "Look, Boss, I can explain…"

"Really?" asked the Boss.  "You really think you would have enough time to explain to me how you four ended up causing so much chaos and worry back in Washington?  My entire staff was alarmed that you hadn't notified us about your whereabouts.  Not to mention your awful civilian disguises, your poor interviewing skills (which was one of the tests you all failed in back when you first became agents), and worst of all, the RV is a complete mess!  All the information you've gathered has been confiscated and the vehicle is currently being impounded!"

The agents looked like a group of kids who were getting scolded by a teacher.  Kevin, Courage, Sandy, Zalost, and Shirley couldn't help but feel sorry for them.

As for the Duck Brothers, they were hiding behind a crate.  They dodged out of sight when the soldiers stormed the room.

"What are we gonna do?" whispered the green duck.  "If those people find us we're history."     

"Don't worry," said the blue duck.  He took the remote control out of his pocket; the one that had been used to activate the cloaking device on their spaceship.  The blue duck pushed a button on the device and the three duck disappeared.

Instantly, the Duck Brothers reappeared behind Eustace and Muriel's house.  The twilight sky showed that that there was still a couple hours before dawn would arrive and Eustace, Muriel, Carl, and Diane Henderson would wake up.

"How did that happen?" asked the green duck.

"What?  I never told you this was also a teleporter?" asked the blue duck.

"No!"

"Well, you should've asked."

"But…"

"Shhhh," said the orange duck.  The Duck Brothers peeked around the corner of their house.  Their invisible ship was parked right next to the RV, which was swarming with government officials.  

"Now what?" asked the green duck.

The blue duck thought for a moment.  "You still have those modified mind control devices?"

Five minutes later, all the government officials were standing perfectly still as the green duck deactivated the cloaking device.  The officials were wearing chips on their ears, which worked the same way as the mind control helmets the ducks had used the last time they were on Earth.

"This certainly is one strange planet," said the green duck, as the three brothers boarded their ship.

"Think you'd want to live here?" asked the blue duck.

"I sure wouldn't," said the orange duck.

"Me neither," said the green duck.  "People here have to deal with so many problems like war and famine and diseases…"

"And dictators and poverty and crime…" added the blue duck.

"And blackouts and Internet viruses and milk going bad…" added the orange duck.

The two ducks looked at their orange brother oddly.  "What?" he asked.

The door of the ship closed, and the ship blasted off into the air.  Moments later, the officials woke up and found the devices on their ears, but when they touched them, they turned to dust.  Shrugging their shoulders, the officials continued their task to confiscate the RV.

Back at the lab, the agents' Boss was taking a deep breath as if to say one final comment.  The agents gulped expecting the worst.

"As disappointed as I am on all those matters," said the Boss, sternly, "I congratulate all four of you on completing 'Operation Nowhere.'  The information that I had been ordered for you to collect was meant to lead you to the tax return money hidden under the Stromwell residence."  The Boss waved his hand and the soldiers let down their weapons…at least, the ones that were pointed at the agents.  

"Now that the money has finally been retrieved," continued the Boss, "you four agents are immediately dismissed from this case.  You are to follow the soldiers to the airport at once."

For a moment, Agent R, Gammon, Barsby, and D.M. couldn't believe what they were hearing.  They had blended in so well to their surroundings, they had almost forgotten that they were government agents.  After all they had been through, they were finally leaving.

Agent R turned to Kevin and said, "Hope you find a new home, kid.  And keep on talking, if you know what I mean," before being led away.

Agent Gammon said, "Hey, Kev.  It was great meeting you.  I hope we see each other again…real soon."

Agent Barsby added, "And have fun wherever you go, pal."

Agent Darkest Moon said nothing.  All she did was lean in and give Kevin a quick kiss on the cheek before being led away.

Kevin watched the four agents being led out of the room by the soldiers.

An hour later, Kevin, Courage, and Sandy sat on Dr. Stromwell's front lawn as the tax money was being hauled into two armored cars.  Shirley and Zalost had gone back to their homes after thanking Kevin.

Kevin sighed sadly as he looked at the two dogs.  "Y'know, it's a shame all that money is going back to some government back or something."  Courage and Sandy nodded.  "We should at least have a reward or something for all the work we've done.  I wish the agents were still here."

The agents Boss soon walked up to Kevin.  "You're Kevin Henderson?"

"Yessir," said Kevin.  Courage and Sandy peeked out from behind Kevin's legs.  This man looked like he was born to be a head of the government.

"I should especially thank you for solving this one-hundred year old case.  There was a $500 reward for finding this money, and that reward is yours to keep."  (Double-check Stromwell's bio, the reward is actually mentioned.)

Kevin felt like someone punched him in the stomach.  $500 was nothing, at least, not enough to buy a new house.  How was his family going to live with that meager amount?

The Boss man smiled just then and said, "The reward was issued back in 1901.  Nowadays, adding other factors, that amount should add up to be about…"  The man took out a piece of paper and read it.  "…$750,000."

The look on Kevin's face mirrored the one on Sandy's face…absolute shock.

"Of course," grinned the Boss.  "I can only issue this money to you if you promise not to reveal anything you've seen to anyone.  We will board up and destroy all evidence to Stromwell's lab as well as the case itself.  Do I have your word?"  He held out his hand.

Kevin was on the brink of tears.  Wait 'til his parents heard about this!

Kevin shook the man's hand.  "You have my word."

The man smiled.  "It's been a pleasure doing business with you, Kevin.  I'm sure you'll lead a good life.  As for the money…"  The Boss called over one of his men, who gave him a suitcase.  The Boss opened the briefcase and showed Kevin that it was full of thousand-dollar bills.  "…make you sure you don't spend it all at once.  And if your parents ask, tell them…the government shows its appreciation to those who help solve our cases."

"Uh……you bet," uttered Kevin.

"C'mon," said the Boss.  "Why don't I give you a ride back to the house?"

At this point, Kevin would've agreed to go with him to the moon.

The Boss dropped Kevin and the dogs off at the house just as the RV was being towed away.  Everyone drove away, leaving Kevin, Courage, Sandy, and the suitcase.

"What now?" asked Sandy.  Courage was equally curious.

"Now?" asked Kevin.  He reached into his pocket and pulled out the printout of the website Agent R had given him.  "Now, we go house shopping.  I hope my laptop's battery is recharged."

"Kevin!" shouted a voice from the house.  Kevin turned and saw his sister, Katie running towards him with Mr. Furry.  At last, Kevin and the dogs didn't feel nervous or scared upon seeing the teddy bear.

Kevin scooped up his little sister in his arms.  "I told you I'd be right back."  They hugged each other before Katie said, "Mom and Dad are still asleep."

Kevin looked to the east and saw that the sun was about to come up.  Stromwell said that Carl and Diane would awake right when the sun peeked over the horizon.

"C'mon, Katie, you need some breakfast.  Hey, do you know where my laptop is?"

Upstairs, Eustace, Muriel, and Kevin's parents began to wake up.  

"Wha-what huh?" muttered Eustace as he sat up in bed.

"Oh my," said Muriel.  "That was quite a dream I had!"

"How did we get up here?" asked Diane, who looked around the room.

Carl wondered about that too, but before anyone could say anything more, a bunch of shouting could be heard downstairs.

"Kevin?" gasped Diane with alarm.  At once the four adults got up left the room and stopped at the top of the stairs.

To their amazement, they saw Kevin, Katie, Courage, and Sandy dancing around the laptop.

"Mom!  Dad!"  yelled Kevin.  "We found it!  The perfect house!"

For the rest of the day, the Hendersons made all the necessary arrangements for moving to their new house.  The house was a $250,000 two-story home on an 8-acre piece of property located on the outskirts of Kansas City, Kansas (right across the Mississippi River from Kansas City, Missouri…the birthplace of Leonard Stromwell!)  Of course, Carl and Diane were shocked to discover the money that was going to pay for it, but Kevin eventually convinced his parents that it was an actual reward from the government.

"I take back every bad thing I said about them," said Carl.

Kansas City was perfect, not only because it wasn't too far away from their apartment in Columbus, Ohio, but also because they would only be three hours away from Courage's house!

Of course, it would take a while for Carl and Diane to sign all the legal documents.  They got on the phone and called Kansas State Realty (the phone number was on the printout.)  The good news was that the house was for sale and they could transport all their possessions into the house.  The bad news was that they would have to leave Nowhere as soon as possible and drive to Kansas City to make the deal go through.

After a splendid dinner, the Hendersons packed all their belongings and placed them in or on the car.  Carl gave his family a talk about heading to new places, but given their experience in Nowhere, Kevin said that they could be ready for anything.

As Eustace and Muriel helped the Hendersons load up, Courage sat with his back to the water pump as Sandy sat in front of him.  As they talked, Sandy gave Courage a quick kiss between sentences.

"I hope you like living in Kansas," said Courage.

"Mmm…I hope so too," answered Sandy.  "I always wished I could live closer to you, Courage."

"Well, I for one am glad it came true."

"Yeah.  I hope we get to see each other again real soon."

On the other side of the house, the car horn honked.

Courage sighed.  He got up and walked Sandy to the car.

"Don't worry, Courage," whispered Kevin as Sandy got into the car next to him.  "When I get my driver's license, I could drive you and Sandy somewhere really nice.  "I've heard of this little desert town out west called Perfection.  I hear that place is really cool."

"Okay, Hendersons," announced Carl.  "Off to our new house!" 

"Good-bye!" yelled Muriel as the car lurched into gear.

"Rrrgh," grumbled Eustace as he waved.  He wished some of that reward money had gone his way.

"See you soon," whispered Courage sadly, as the car drove off once again into the sunset.  


	30. A Couple Loose Ends Are Tied

"A Couple More Loose Ends Are Tied"

That night, Courage fell asleep and slipped into a familiar dream.

He was standing at one end of the pool table in the pool hall from way back in chapter nine.  On the other side were the five dogs he had faced earlier.  The mutt chalked up his stick as he glared at Courage with those glossy white eyes.

"Care for a rematch?" asked the mutt.  He grinned.

Courage grabbed a stick off the rack and appeared to surprise the mutt by offering him to go first without hesitation.

The mutt broke up the billiard balls as his friends stood by and watched.

The game went on for a while until, just like before, only the white ball and the eight ball were left.  Everyone thought the mutt would win again, but to everyone's surprise, Courage pulled the stick back and quickly sunk the eight ball into a corner pocket.

"Nice game," admitted the mutt.  "I see you're improving."

"What's this all about?" asked Courage in the dream.  "I mean, why am I here?"

The mutt and his four canine friends crowded around Courage.  "We're merely offering you a test," said the mutt.  "And now that you've passed, I and my crew congratulate you."

"I don't understand," said dream-Courage.  "A test of what?"

"Skills, understanding, friendship…any of those.  Anyway, the last time we met you weren't ready to face what was ahead.  Now that you've succeeded your goal, I wanted to be double-sure."

Courage nodded, although he still didn't understand much.

"I'll tell you this too," continued the mutt.  "If you ever meet up with us again, just remember that we're always gonna be friends, you and I.  No matter what."  The mutt's friends agreed.

"Really?" asked Courage.

"Either that, or your subconscious is playing a really weird joke on you." 

"…okay," muttered Courage.

The mutt grinned again.  "Take care, Courage."

Courage woke up feeling relieved and confident…as well as confused.  He wondered if he ever would meet those dogs again…in his dreams or reality.

"Send him in," said the Boss.

The door to the Boss's office opened and Agent R stepped inside.  He looked slightly worried and was in civilian clothing.  The Boss wanted to ask why, but he let it slide.

"Agent R," began the Boss.  "What can you tell me about the year 1901?"

"Well," stuttered Agent R.  "It was one year after the turn of the century.  In September of that year, President William McKinley was shot in a train station and Theodore Roosevelt took his place.  In November…"

"I ask this," interrupted the Boss, "because I've been digging into the archives and found this ancient file from that year."

The Boss threw an old manila folder onto the desk.  Typed on the cover with a typewriter, were the words: OPERATION TAX RETURN.

Agent R picked up the file and opened it.  Agent R's jaw dropped as he read the first typewritten page:

Summary:  Fifteen United States secret government agents have been sent to the underground laboratory of Professor Leonard Quincy Stromwell on this date, July 28, 1901.  Five million dollars and fourteen cents have been mistakenly sent to Stromwell's residence due to an error in the printed address.  Upon approaching the laboratory, reports of "unusual activity" were heard from inside.  As the agents entered the laboratory, a strange light was being omitted from a "large, stone construction."  When the agents tried to apprehend Stromwell and his wife, Abigail Mary Stromwell, they ran into the light and disappeared from view.  The agents hesitated upon entering the construction and decided to deactivate it in order to be rid of any evidence of this happening.  Once that was completed, an inch by inch search of the room was conducted, but no tax money was discovered.  The laboratory was therefore shut down and boarded up until more proof could be obtained about the location of the Stromwell's family.  Case: Unsolved.

Agent R looked up at his boss/father with wide eyes.

The Boss lay back in his chair.  "It goes on to say that the Stromwell child was put into a foster family.  Sad, really.

"You knew about all this!" shouted Agent R.  "You knew exactly what me and my partners were getting into!"               

The Boss sighed.  "We lost two good men when we finally learned that Stromwell was discovered by an undercover cop in San Francisco five years later.  If only it hadn't been for that earthquake."

Agent R silently threw the file back on the desk.  "Why did we wait so long to retrieve the money?"

"Because it was ancient history, son.  Not until all the other strange events happened in that town did we take interest in the treasure again.  After all, it was our money, y'know."

Agent R crossed his arms with frustration.

"What's wrong?" asked the Boss.

"This isn't what I came down here for," said Agent R.

"Yes."

"Well, what then?"

"I came to tell you good-bye."

The Boss sat up in his chair.  "Good-bye?"

"Yes," said Agent R.  "I'm here to turn in my resignation."  

Agent R reached into his pocket and grabbed his resignation form.  He threw it on the desk.

The Boss took the paper and read it.  "You were never happy with this job, were you?"

"I'm sorry, Dad," admitted Agent R.  "It's just that, I know you and Mom are heads of the government and you expected me to follow in you footsteps, but I just have any interest in what you and Mom do."

The Boss got to his feet and walked around his desk.  Agent R felt afraid at what he was going to say, but he remained as still as a statue as his father approached him.

"Why…why didn't tell me this before?" asked the Boss.

"You made such a big deal out of it, I didn't want to hurt your feelings," said Agent R.  He hung his head.

To his complete surprise, Agent R's father hugged him, something he hadn't done in years.  "My boy," said the Boss.  "I'm so sorry.  I really thought you would be happy here."

Agent R nodded.  "I know, but I have dreams of my own too."

"And what would they be?" asked the Boss.

"I'm thinking of going back to where I was when I was taking college."

"Las Vegas?"

"Yeah, Dad.  I had so much fun there, and the careers you can have are not only cool, but well-paying and numerous…almost as well-paying as your job."  Big Boss looked at him oddly.  "Well, maybe not almost."

"Okay, son, if this is what you really want, I guess there's not much I can do to stop you."

Agent R nearly passed out from excitement.  "You really mean that?"

"Well, I guess I could stop you in any number of ways, but since you're my only son, I suppose I should let you make your own decisions."

Agent R was so overwhelmed with emotion, that he hugged his father with all his might and said, "I won't disappoint you, Dad."

"I know you won't, son," answered the Boss.

At that moment, the intercom on his desk went off.  "Sir?  Are you there?"

The Boss walked over to the intercom.  "Yes, what is it, Montgomery?"

"Sir, the new recruits are here, sir."

"Excellent.  Send them here in one hour."

"Yes, sir."

The Boss looked at his son.  "Well, I guess I'll see you later, son."

"Yeah, Dad.  Be sure to call, okay?  Do you need my number?"

"Oh, I'll find out what it is eventually," said his father with a smile.

"Bye, Dad," said Agent R.

"Oh, son," said his father.  "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"Oh, yes," said Agent R.  He reached into his pocket and pulled out his badge.  He abruptly tossed it at his father, who caught it with one hand.  

"Bye, son."

Agent R smiled as he closed the door.

The Boss took the badge and looked at his son's name on it.  He then opened a drawer and tossed the badge into it.  He then reached for something in the drawer and pulled it out.  It was a photo that had been confiscated from D.M.'s camera.  There were a lot of photos in the desk, including the one with Stromwell's ghostly face on Mr. Furry, but the one the Boss held was the last one D.M. took.  It, of course, was the one with Agent R, Gammon, Barsby, Darkest Moon, Kevin, Zalost, Shirley, the Duck Brothers, and lastly, the ghost of Dr. Stromwell all standing in front of the portal.  

The Boss smiled.  It looked like a bizarre family portrait.  People, dogs, aliens, AND ghosts…all in the same pic.

"I'll be thinking of you, son," said the Boss as he put the photo back into his desk.  "Always."

The former Agent R walked into one of the Capitol building's lobbies.  Now that he was no longer an agent, he would have to be recognized on a first name basis.  He was thinking about plans on how to find a job in Vegas, as well as a place to live.

As the front doors came into view, he heard someone yell, "Hey, Mr. R!"

Jonathan turned and saw Gammon, Barsby, and D.M. sitting on some seats in the lobby.  As Jonathan walked over to them, they got up.  He could see they had sad, solemn faces.

"Well, guys," said Jonathan.  "I guess I'll be heading out now."

"It's a shame you have to go," said Gammon.

"Yeah," agreed Barsby.  "You probably would've gotten good pay if you had stayed."

"Well," sighed Jonathan.  "Like I said back in Nowhere, I wasn't happy with my job, and…well, I gotta go."

"We'll miss you, Mr. R," said D.M.

"Send us a postcard when you get to Vegas, okay?" said Gammon.

"Okay, I'll be sure to…"  Agent R stopped.  "Wait a minute.  How did you know I was going to Vegas?"     

The agents' solemn faces were not trying to keep from laughing.

Agent R was shocked.  "You mean, you're all leaving too?"

Barsby laughed.  "Like we said back in Nowhere, we weren't happy with our jobs."   

"We turned in our resignations right before you did," said D.M. proudly.

Jonathan didn't know what to say.  "Wow…c'mere, you guys."  

The four of them had a big group hug right then.

"So," said Jonathan afterwards.  "Where are you guys heading?"

"Haven't you guessed by now?" asked Gammon.  "We're going to Vegas with you!"

"You're kidding!" shouted Jonathan.

"Hey, best friends gotta stick together," said Barsby.  He held out his palm.  Gammon looked at Barsby for a moment, got the hint, and placed his hand on top of Barsby's hand.  Then, D.M. placed her hand on top.  All three of them looked at Jonathan. 

"Whaddya say, Johnny?" asked Gammon.  "Sticking together?"

"On one condition," said Jonathan, whose hand stopped inches above the others.

"What's that?"

"Don't call me Johnny.  I never liked that name."  

Everyone laughed as Jonathan placed his hand on top and the four of them threw their hands up in the air.  Obviously, this was unusual behavior for people to do in the Capitol building, which explained why several people were staring.

"C'mon," offered Jonathan.  "Let's get out of here before we get thrown out."

Outside, Jonathan said, "Y'know, now that we're ex-agents, we need to start going on a first name basis, right?"

"Exactly," said Gammon.  "You're Jonathan R, right."

"I know," said Jonathan, rolling his eyes.  He looked at Gammon.  "So, you're Chris…"  He turned to Barsby.  "And you're Gareth…" He looked at D.M.  "And you're…hey, what is your first name?"

D.M. smiled.  "I'll tell you after we get some lunch. I'm starving."

"Me too.  Let's go!  My treat!" said Jonathan.  "And maybe D.M. can take a picture of us there before we head off to Vegas!"

"Yeah!" said D.M. and Gareth.

Vegas, thought Chris.  This could give me a few ideas for my sketches.

The four of them walked down the road, side by side, and so unaware of the adventures ahead.

On the outskirts of Indianapolis, Indiana, a large bundle of blankets moved on the side of a road.  

Mad Dog shakily got to his feet.  He had a massive headache and was rather dizzy.

"Ohhh…what happened?"

He looked around.  It was night.  In the distance, the lights of Indianapolis shown brightly against the black sky.

Mad Dog growled.  Not only did he lose the battle in the RV, he lost the bat too.

He was just about to head into Indy and find a rental car to drive home on, when he suddenly heard some shouting in the distance.  He sniffed the air to determine where it was coming from.  To his surprise, he discovered the sound was coming from above.

Mad Dog looked up and squinted into the sky.  He didn't see anything, but the screams were getting louder.

Just then, Mad Dog could see a black form dropping out of the sky at an enormously fast speed.  It looked like a large mass at first, but Mad Dog could see that it was made up of many pieces.  It was definitely the source of the sounds.

At it was heading right for him!  He tried to get out of the way, but the blankets got tangled around his foot, and just as he freed himself…

CRASH!

When the dust cleared, all that was left was Mad Dog at the bottom of a pile of evil villains.  Katz, Le Quack and all the other villains that had been blasted out of Stromwell's lab had been flying through the air all this time and had now landed at last…on top of Mad Dog.

Everybody was more or less injured and seeing stars.  

"Are we dead yet?" asked Doc Gerbil.

"It sure feels like it," uttered Le Quack.

"All I can say is," coughed Katz.  "If I ever meet another bad guy that's more evil than us, it'll be too soon."

At that moment, a car drove up and stopped in front of the pile.  The villains didn't even recognize the car until they heard the driver side window roll down and they recognized the person driving.

The man wore a fedora on his head and was wearing a black outfit.  His face was horribly mangled, but you could still see his wicked smile.  The long blades on his fingers stretched beyond the steering wheel almost to the windshield.

"Hello, there," said the man in a low, freaky voice.  "My name's Freddy.  Need a lift?"

But by that time, all the villains were halfway to Indy.

End.


End file.
